Designer Tanner Fletcher leans into nostalgia with ‘Beauty Pageant’

By Cole Habersham

(Photo by Selwyn Tungol)

Following their Spring 2023 prom-night-themed collection, Brooklyn-based Tanner Fletcher has expanded its vintage universe to the world of pageantry. The young couple behind the brand, Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell, presented their Spring/Summer 2024 collection earlier this week with a New York Fashion Week show titled “Beauty Pageant” — a fitting theme for a brand recently crowned one of 10 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists, which afforded the duo an opportunity to break new ground: their first runway show.

In partnership with the Miss Universe Organization, the show highlighted a range of nostalgia-inducing looks with a modern twist. A floral-printed slip dress with sheer detailing, sequined suits, frilly tops and deliciously cozy knitwear were welcome additions to the brand’s ready-to-wear roster, which can easily be mixed and styled to marry classic Tanner Fletcher elegance with the personal individuality of modern consumers.

Beyond the clothes, show attendees were treated to a beauty pageant performance as models (or, contestants as they were called by the pageant’s host) walked down the runway with introductions calling out their hometown, personal interests and style.

(Photo by Selwyn Tungol)

The pageantry underscored Tanner Fletcher’s commitment to diversity and genderless style — perhaps most evidently portrayed by a contestant named Phil, a longtime Tanner Fletcher model who rocked a black sheer dress paired with black briefs and rugged boots.

“What I love about Tanner Fletcher is that beyond just combining men’s and women’s collections, they really celebrate gender fluidity and queerness,” said show attendee and friend of the brand Ashley Rous of best.dressed. “They play with traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity in such a cheeky way, and show that, damn, everyone looks hot in everything!”

The balance between masculine and feminine, and vintage and contemporary, is a playful and fruitful area where Tanner Fletcher is finding its stride.