Introducing Tanner Fletcher, the genderless, Brooklyn-based label reimagining retro references with queer humor.
Photo: Cam Whaley / Courtesy of Tanner FletcherTanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell have a thing for pussybows. It stems from their mutual affection for all things ’60s and ’70s; their aesthetic is soft, femme, whimsical, romantic, and, above all, nostalgic.
“We want to be known as the pussybow boys,” Richie told me half joking during a preview of their resort 2023 collection. But pussybows are only one of the emerging brand’s signatures. The list also includes ruffles, chunky knits, cheeky messages, upholstery fabrics, vintage wallpaper prints, and pastel ginghams.
Kasell and Richie met in college, and theirs is the definition of a roommate success story. “Fletcher and I met through our school’s roommate finder as freshmen,” says Richie. After hanging out a few times, they “couldn’t get enough of each other” and ended up dating before they even moved in. It was 2020 in the early days of the pandemic when they became business partners as cofounders of Brooklyn-based genderless label Tanner Fletcher.
Emerging designers are often asked the “who is your customer?” question. Most answer that she’s a woman in her mid-30s who makes a lot of money and is chic and classic with an edge . But not Kasell and Richie. Their answer is much simpler: “It’s just us, really,” says the former, with the latter adding, “We just really live our brand. This is what we wear, what our apartment looks like. It’s truly an extension of us.
There’s been a lot of buzz around the idea of genderless fashion over the last couple of seasons, much of it coming, ironically, from the menswear space. The majority of this market is dominated by hoodies, T-shirts, and tank tops, and few designers (see