TONY 1923: Love Letter to New York

November 03, 2021

New York is famously known as an incubator for innovative new designers and fashion labels, and last week, the latest luxury sport and street style brand TONY 1923, launched. At the helm of the brand, which focuses on sexy and modern silhouettes in athleisure, loungewear, and lingerie, is Melissa Battifarano. After years of working alongside popstar Rihanna as the Vice President of Design at Savage x Fenty and the Design Director of Fenty Puma by Rihanna, Battifarano has branched out on her own independent venture and formed a team of intelligent and savvy designers in launching TONY 1923.

The brand is named after Battifarano's father and takes influence from his old-school Italian American style and heritage. The brand's launch release explained that "TONY 1923 is a love letter to her father, her chosen family, and New York City. From his love of fast, black cars, large gold chains, anything trimmed in black lambskin, to wearing a bit too much jewelry, a bit too much cologne, fur coats, and snakeskin shoes - Tony was the opposite of "less is more" and Battifarano sees the inaugural collection as a perfect complement to her father's sense of style."

Interview by Deren Owji
Photos courtesy of TONY 1923

Battifarano stepped aside for a moment to chat with office about the launch of TONY 1923.

What was the driving force behind creating this brand from scratch?

The driving force for me creating this brand was I felt like there’s a hole in the market where comfort meets luxury, sport meets sexy and lounge and innerwear are all day staples. Tony provides that.

From where have you drawn inspiration in building TONY 1923?

This collection was inspired from my dad, Tony, which is also an acronym for Top Of New York. My dad was a larger than life character who lived by the code of an old school Italian guy from Jersey (because he was). From his cars with the gold pinstripes, to his gold pinky rings – he always had a strong sense of style. His clean cut sharkskin suits to his sweaters trimmed in lambskin, he always had a look. I pulled from what I remember of those textures, color palettes, and hardwear details and translated that into this collection. The irony is that Tony is an acronym for Top Of New York – I was stealing my dad’s car at age 15 to come to the city to get to the clubs, to go shopping and I just couldn’t wait to get here. This brand is a love letter to New York City, the city that raised me.

What is your favorite aspect of your first collection?

I've been designing and brand building for others for a while now and all I really wanted to do this whole time was create a collection where I can combine fashion with comfort and where luxury meets sport, and with Tony I feel like I accomplished that.

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