Latest news with #TelfarClemens
Hypebeast
4 days ago
- Business
- Hypebeast
The TELFAR "Plastic Bag" Couldn't Be More TELFAR
TELFARhas unveiled the latest addition to its growing handbag repertoire: the TELFAR Plastic Bag. The new silhouette is entirely unique from the classic 'TELFAR Shopping Bag', yet it's in no way unfamiliar. The bag, inspired by single-use plastic bags commonly found in bodegas and liquor stores in NYC, embodies TELFAR's democratic ethos. Being 'for everybody' has been a part of the brand's DNA since its inception in 2004 in Brooklyn by Telfar Clemens. Available in eleven nostalgic New York TELFAR prints and 2 sizes, the design is an expressive departure from the relatively minimal Shopping Bag. The double-lined waterproof exterior boasts a plastic-like sheen, and ruched elastic handles add a TELFAR design touch. Two deep side pockets inside are large enough to fit a water bottle and are supplemented with a zip pocket, slit pocket, and hidden stash pocket. The regular, big enough to hold a 13-inch laptop, is priced at $148 USD, while the carry-on-sized jumbo is $195 USD. The brand's 'for everybody' mantra has also informed its subversive slant, manifesting in playful anti-fashion stunts and unconventional approaches to distribution that prioritize access to all. In June, TELFAR hosted its20th anniversary runwayshow on a SoHo side street, holding an open casting call for the presentation just weeks before. The Plastic Bag and a capsule of matching tees will be released exclusively on the TELFARwebstoreon August 15 and in-store at 408 Broadway, New York City, next week.
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Telfar Clemens On The 20th Anniversary Of Telfar: 'We Would Love Our Legacy To Be An Alternative Model For Cultural Sovereignty'
Courtesy of Fast Company On one of New York's first sweltering days of the summer, Telfar Clemens chose to mark a milestone in a unconventional way: with an off-calendar fashion show. This wasn't the first time the brand had deviated from the traditional fashion calendar; Clemens's last two 'shows' also broke with convention, eschewing the typical runway structure. This time, however, the designer was celebrating a particularly significant occasion: the 20th anniversary of his eponymous label, Telfar. To commemorate the milestone, Clemens staged an outdoor fashion show in a New York alley at the crossroads of Cortlandt and Walker Street. The location, unpolished but still touched with Telfar's essence, as his white and neutral-toned tank tops hung on clotheslines from building to building looming above the audience. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Models walks the runway during the Telfar 20th Anniversary Fashion ... More Show on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Udo) Founded in 2005 during Clemens' time as a student at Pace University, Telfar was slow to rise but flew into cultural consciousness a decade later with its now-iconic shopping bag also known as the "Brooklyn Birkin." The simple, vegan leather tote, embossed with the brand's logo, became a symbol of accessibility and inclusivity. This message was underscored by the brand's slogan, 'It's not for you— it's for everyone.' Its rapid rise cemented Clemens' position as a revolutionary figure in fashion, and for a long time Telfar, the brand and the person, became synonymous with 'New York Cool.' Beyond the bag, Clemens' designs have consistently explored themes of gender, identity, and Americana aesthetics—subjects that have shaped his career from the outset. As early as 2010, he introduced his ForMale collection, which challenged conventional notions of masculinity and played with the performance of gender. Over time, these themes became central to his work, evolving in complexity but always staying true to their core. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Models walk the runway during the 2025 Telfar Fashion Show at Telfar ... More on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by) In the two decades since Telfar Clemens founded his brand, he has transformed from an emerging designer into a cultural force. Along the way, he has won a CFDA Award for American Accessories Designer of the Year in 2021 , designed the uniforms for the 2021 Liberian Olympic team, and launched Telfar TV, a 24-hour network and channel. Also, he opened a flagship store on Canal Street, collaborated with White Castle to design their uniforms, and created costumes for Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter and Renaissance tours. Now, after two decades, Clemens chose to commemorate it all in the most fitting way: with a show staged in the very New York streets where his name and brand were built. The runway date, one of the longest days of the year, thanks to the summer solstice, and every hour that the show ran late (2.5 hours, to be exact), was felt. During the 1.5 hour mark of lateness, Telfar's casting director Jorge Gitoo Wright, came out to warm up the already very warm crowd. "If you think we're late, we're not. We're on time, bitch!' Of course, with Telfar, there's always a twist. With this initial runway show, he introduced an initiative of 'New Models,' a casting search of new faces, done by a voting system akin to Love Island, where if you watched the show, or the casting call via Telfar TV, you got to vote for your favorite model. Tommiana, a newly cast "new model" in the show, recalls, 'Having recently left a corporate job, I suddenly found myself with more free time. It felt like the perfect opportunity to focus on myself, so I decided to take a leap and attend the casting call. I was really nervous because it was my first one ever, and I wanted to make the best impression.' NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Model walks the runway during the Telfar 20th Anniversary Fashion Show ... More on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Udo) Before the casting, he remembers the scene clearly: 'The line was already wrapped around the block. But luckily, a friend of mine was already there, so I joined him. The Telfar team was scouting for new models up and down the line, looking for all kinds of fresh faces. I overheard Jay from the Telfar team asking if there were any dancers, and without thinking twice, I jumped in and said, 'I dance!'' According to Tommiana, after the casting segment, 'They let us know that people at home would decide, and we got to mingle with the crowd in the store,' he says. 'It was so powerful for Telfar to use his platform to showcase this 'new model' of what fashion is and what it looks like. It was all about Queer and POC liberation." A week after the casting, Tommiana stayed prepared by working out, when he received an email with details for the new models show, along with media to post on social media to promote himself and encourage people to vote. 'I plastered it everywhere,' he says. 'I had my entire community spread the word, and they did! When the live broadcast of the show went down, I felt so much love. I could just see how cool the entire thing was. At that point, I didn't even care about winning,I was just happy to be part of it. But I still wondered if I'd won.' NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Model walks the runway during the Telfar 20th Anniversary Fashion Show ... More on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Udo) The next day, he received an email confirming he was cast. When he arrived at the studio, he was greeted by "none other than Telfar and casting director Jorge Gitoo Wright, who made the entire process feel so easy," welcoming him 'with open arms.' "Im so grateful to the Telfar team and I am so proud of them. I can't wait to see what the next 20 years hold for Telfar because I know it's revolutionary, he's always been," Tommiana says. Below, we caught up with Telfar Clemens and Telfar's creative director Babak Radboy about 20 years of Telfar. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Models walk the runway during the Telfar 20th Anniversary Fashion Show ... More on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Udo) As Telfar approaches its 20-year mark, how have your priorities evolved in building and sustaining a namesake brand, especially one that has consistently chosen to operate outside traditional fashion systems? We couldn't have foreseen the challenges that come with 'success.' This happens on many different levels. Being able to realize that scale and profit may not be synonymous with success is back to its inception, what values or strategies have remained central, and which have transformed most dramatically over time? Our independence and desire to determine the social use of our work are the center of what we do. That hasn't changed. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Models walk the runway during the Telfar 20th Anniversary Fashion Show ... More on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Udo) One of the more unconventional choices Telfar has made is opting out of the traditional fashion calendar. What informed that decision, and what do you feel is gained—or even lost—by showing on your own terms? Well its funny to say this to Forbes — but the fashion system is financially small but culturally a very potent front of western supremacy. It's understandable that people feel they deserve recognition there in Paris or NYFW — of course they do. But the power to grant recognition is what needs to be questioned. we felt we should rely on our own community directly instead. Those choices were huge risks and they have given us so much show felt like a culmination, a celebration of Telfar's multitudes. From the nods to Americana and lifestyle aesthetics to the way you wove together so many different subcultures and eras of the brand, it made clear that Telfar isn't for one particular person, but for everyone. As you assembled these looks, from the opener to the finale, what did that process reveal to you about the legacy you've built so far, and where you feel compelled to take it next? We decided we would cast the people who mean the most to us and who were there the longest — along with their families and our families as our models. We wanted to ground ourselves because the scale of things the last few years has created some alienation for us. In general we've been strategically shrinking things down to a scale where you can actually feel something. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: Models walk the runway during the Telfar 20th Anniversary Fashion Show ... More on June 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Udo) With New Models, you opened the runway to your community in a way that was natural for Telfar. How did the idea of involving your viewers in such a direct way come about? You've consistently reimagined what a fashion show can be, but what is it about featuring new faces and real people that continues to feel essential to the brand's DNA? Well, New Models is a model search show but it's not really about fashion models - it's about cultural models. Social and political models. It's really about how the model we have all experienced the last decade - the model of 'representation' is killing us. We need a model of collective agency. So we basically started a modeling agency. you think about the long arc of Telfar, beyond trends, beyond product drops, what kind of legacy do you hope the brand leaves behind? What do you want people to say not just about what Telfar made, but what it stood for? We would love our legacy to be an alternative model for cultural sovereignty- so you know, write for Forbes or whatever it takes — but have an exit strategy and bring others with you.
Vogue
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
A Summer Kick-Off From Telfar, Who Celebrated 20 Years in Business With a Comeback Show
Telfar, the brand, and Telfar, the designer, have always moved at their own pace. On Saturday night, Telfar Clemens summoned friends, fans, and press—amidst which there were many intersections—to Cortlandt Alley, behind his Canal Street store, to celebrate two decades of the label he started as a teenager in Queens. His famous askew tank tops hung from clotheslines above a crowd of around 200 who gathered to see his much anticipated return to the runway after a long absence. The summer solstice was on Friday, making Saturday one of the longest days of the year with over 15 hours of daylight. Telfar used up every last bit of it—the show started over two hours late; though once it got going, no one was counting. 'If you think we're late, we're not. We're on time, bitch!' exclaimed Jorge Gitoo Wright, who cast the show, at around the hour and a half mark, adding: 'If you don't like the looks, we don't like you!' Courtesy of Telfar Courtesy of Telfar Courtesy of Telfar What was not to like? Late last year, when Clemens opened his first Telfar store, he spoke about his ambitions with ready-to-wear. 'It's like when you were walking down Broadway and you saw six people with the same coat—whatever's going on there, I want to do that,' he said. In a way, he already had: His Shopping Bag was an It-bag before it became a mass item with dupes sold a stone's throw away from the real thing. 'I'm really ready for that effect to happen with the clothes,' he added. Babak Radboy, the brand's long-time artistic director, elaborated: 'We weren't trying to see a thousand people in a sweatshirt with the Telfar logo on it. We were trying to see a thousand people in an upside-down tank top. We wanted the granny and the mechanic. That was the idea of mass, of how you change the mass. Not just how you serve them a generic idea.' There were no generic ideas here: Clemens has always had a knack for abstracting wardrobe classics and transforming them into idiosyncratic expressions with the ineffable coolness of a true New Yorker. This weekend's show offered them in spades. The collection featured seven capsules, which will be dropping monthly between right this minute and the fall. Most impactful were the suits rendered in casual jerseys. There was a softness and nonchalance to the cut of these pieces that felt new and forward-looking—a reminder of the way Telfar's runway shows have often offered an accurate and timely read of the zeitgeist. Courtesy of Jason Nocito Courtesy of Jason Nocito
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.
New York Times
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Telfar's Joyful, Shoppable Declaration of Independence
Two and a quarter hours is a long time for any superstar to ask fans to wait for a show to start. But on Saturday night in Cortlandt Alley, a somewhat grimy passageway between Broadway and Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan, hundreds of people, including Solange Knowles, seemed perfectly happy to wile away the evening in expectation of what was to come. Namely, Telfar Clemens's 20th-anniversary fashion show, which was the first official show of his namesake label in almost three years, though 'fashion show' was something of a misnomer for the event. Yes, there were clothes involved, and yes, there was a catwalk (or at least the street), and yes, there were people seated on either side along with photographers. But the parade that finally started at 8:15 p.m. bore about as much resemblance to a traditional fashion show as Mr. Clemens's signature tank tops — twisted, asymmetric, backless, upside-down — do the standard undergarment. Instead, it was a celebration, a happening and a collective shout of triumph in the face of the current political climate. Not to mention a reflection of the way Mr. Clemens, who founded his brand on the premise of inclusivity long before D.E.I. was a corporate calling card or a political lightning rod, has redesigned American basics — cutting pants to play peekaboo with the thigh; making athletic shirts into the equivalent of royal robes. Rejecting the traditional system, he built his empire his way, transforming a logo into a not-so-secret password to a world that defines luxury not as a sign of material success, but as being seen. There is a reason he held his show not during the usual ready-to-wear season in September or February, but on the weekend after Juneteenth. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
