Latest news with #BushwickBirkin
Black America Web
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Telfar's 20th Anniversary Brings Out The Culture – From Solange Knowles To The Streets
Source: Dominik Bindl / Getty Telfar Clemons knows how to shut down New York City – and for his 20th brand anniversary, he did exactly that. With celebrity guests like Solange Knowles, an alley runway, and live music, the Beloved Black-owned fashion brand proved again why it continues to be an 'it girl' favorite. Telfar doesn't just make bags and clothing – it creates ( and more importantly, celebrates ) culture. RELATED: Telfar Gets Real: Why Telfar's Move To Genuine Leather Is A Big Deal What brand can reportedly start a show two hours late on a hot NYC night and still have folks clapping and vibing when the lights finally go up? Only Telfar. Because the folks who came out—editors, celebrities, everyday fans, multigenerational families—weren't just there for a fashion show. They were there for the moment. The show began with a march from the Telfar storefront down Canal Street before hitting the 'runway' behind the store. Nearly 200 models walked the outside runway: musicians like Teezo Touchdown, kids in matching sets, aunties in their flyest fits, and winners chosen via Telfar's public access TV competition, New Models . The show was giving what the brand is known for: inclusivity. When it comes to a Telfar look, bag, or accessory, everybody eats. The Spring/Summer 2025 collection was a remix of Telfar's greatest hits and future-forward pieces. The runway featured reimagined classics: bold logomania, 'Thank You' bag graphics, riffs on the Newport cigarette smiley face, and a rainbow of denim options—baggy, cropped, overalls, capris. Like the brand itself, the clothing was genderless and unbothered. Relaxed suits, logo-heavy T-shirts, cutout sets, and tailored jumpsuits sat alongside fresh versions of the cult-favorite shopping tote. Of course, the 'Bushwick Birkin' had to make an appearance. Source: Dominik Bindl / Getty Solange was one of several A-listers who braved the Big Apple heat to support the show. She – and her sister Beyoncé – have been longtime supporters of Telfar. Many credit her and Beyoncé for helping to amplify the brand in its early days. RELATED: The Beyhive Is Buzzing Over Beyonce Rocking A White Telfar Bag Source: Udo Salters Photography / Getty The brand's rise is legendary. From vegan leather totes that sell out in seconds to collaborations with Moose Knuckles and Wilson's Leather, Telfar built an empire by embracing the people many fashion houses ignore. We're talking about Black folks, queer folks, and community-centered creatives. The people who move culture. Telfar's marketing strategy has always broken the mold. They've used crowdsourced models, pop-up sales with near-wholesale prices, and a public access TV channel where customers vote on what they want to see next. There's never been a reliance on traditional gatekeepers. The power lies with everyone. Twenty years in, Telfar isn't just still standing. The brand is still disrupting, centering community, and making fashion feel like it belongs to all of us. SEE ALSO Telfar's 20th Anniversary Brings Out The Culture – From Solange Knowles To The Streets was originally published on
Elle
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Solange and Raul Lopez Helped Celebrate 20 Years of Telfar In NYC
Telfar Clemens has always done things his own way. Whether he's disrupting traditional buying and pricing models or building a flagship store in Soho and creating his own TV station, the designer has been a beacon of community in the independent fashion scene. Over the weekend, following a years-long hiatus, Clemens took to the streets of New York City to make a grand return to the runway. At the show, the support and love was crystal clear. Fans, friends, family, and industry insiders all came flocking to the alleyway behind the boutique on the hottest day of the year. Whispers rippled through the crowd as Solange Knowles stepped out from the store and into her seat. Electric hand-held fans and water bottles were passed around and the crowd was rife with anticipation. Clemens briefly popped out to thank everyone for coming, applaud any true fashion fan who snuck into a front-row seat, and lovingly let us know 'We're not late, you are.' Two hours rolled past and the sun began to set between the buildings, casting a dramatic light across the wooden shutters and Telfar-filled clotheslines that were strung up between the buildings. The ambiance alone was enough to romanticize this uniquely New York experience. My phone ticked to 8:15, the stands filled even further with latecomers and excited passersby, and finally, the show kicked off. True to the Telfar spirit, the presentation overturned expectations of a traditional runway event. The cast was filled with people who came directly from the brand's community. (An open casting call culminated in a public vote in an episode titled 'New Models' on the Telfar television platform.) Any preconceived notion of single-file, stoic struts was immediately dismissed. Models walked at awkward, but purposeful, paces, sometimes in rapid strides, sometimes with a slow and sultry attitude (Fellow designer Raul Lopez of Luar donned a baby-blue look and booked it with the power of '90s Shalom Harlow). Some were in a coordinated drove, and others walked waving with their family and toddlers in tow. The spectacle was an impressive feat, amounting to almost 200 people celebrating the brand down the alleyway. Every look garnered a vocal cheer. The clothes felt like logical continuations of the subverted silhouettes for which Telfar is known. Contrast ribbed tanks, 'I Heart New York'-inspired prints, and multi-use skirt/tank tops made up the core of the collection. The runway also furthered the brand's 'fits all' denim, which launched earlier this spring. Skinny jeans, '70s-style jumpsuits, and denim midi skirts paraded down the catwalk in deep indigo hues. Elsewhere, logo jelly sandals appeared in a myriad of colors, just in time for the minimalist footwear wave. The standout remained the accessories. The brand once won fame for its shopping bag, birthed in 2014 and later dubbed 'the Bushwick Birkin.' Though Clemens has said he doesn't love the term, during the height of its popularity—and before the label's innovative bag security program—it was almost as difficult to acquire as a Birkin, too. The brand has since expanded its silhouettes, offering duffels and a 'Dumpling Bag.' However, this time Clemens delved into the shopping-bag riff even further, debuting a deli-inspired Plastic Bag. Any true New Yorker saw their own iconography reflected back at them, which is what makes Telfar's designs so resilient. Twenty years in, Telfar can draw a crowd, an exuberantly fashionable one at that. All things considered, Telfar once again proved that good things are certainly worth the wait. Alexandra Hildreth is the Fashion News Editor at ELLE. She is fascinated by style trends, industry news, shake-ups, and The Real Housewives. Previously, she attended the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Following graduation, she moved back to New York City and worked as a freelance journalist and producer.
