Tanner Fletcher Is the Genderless, Brooklyn-Based Label Reimagining Retro References with Queer Humor

Tanner 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. There’s an old-fashioned charm to Tanner Fletcher, an elegance that stems from combining interior design elements and vintage references with a certain playfulness and humor that comes with queerness.

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 co-founders of Brooklyn-based genderless label Tanner Fletcher. “When Covid started, we were panicking and interviewing at different places to work,” Kasell says. “And at some point we were like we’re just not going to get jobs,” adds Richie.

Kasell has a background in fashion merchandising and buying and Richie is in interior design. The combination has proven to be quite fruitful; only three full seasons in, the label is stocked by several retailers–including SSENSE, which picked up their first collection.