About
Melissa Battifarano has forged a distinguished career in cultivating brands, setting trends, and revolutionizing sportswear and athleisure. With twenty years of experience in fashion design, her ability to seamlessly translate her distinctive creativity into both covetable and commercially successful fashion has earned acclaim, notably from Vogue, which characterized her influence on fashion as “monumental”.
A New Yorker and FIT graduate, Melissa has held executive roles at Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty and Fenty x Puma, Tory Burch, Diesel, and Calvin Klein, she has consistently navigated the intersection of style, culture, and commerce.
Throughout her entire career, Melissa has passionately championed the empowerment of women in the fashion industry, dedicating herself to educational initiatives and the mentorship of fellow women in the industry.
A firm believer in opening doors for women, fostering diversity, and nurturing the next generation, she actively engages in speaking events and panels. Notable among these are her keynote address at the Wharton Business School and her participation in Elemental Excelerator’s “Our Fashion Future” during Climate Week 2022, among other engagements. Looking ahead, Melissa is organizing a panel in 2025 featuring prominent women in the industry, shedding light on the role of female creative directors and addressing existing disparities. Simultaneously, she remains deeply involved in projects through her creative agency, Melicious Inc.
