Telfar Clemens facts for kids

Telfar Clemens (born in 1985) is a famous fashion designer. He created his own brand called Telfar. He is from Liberia and America.

Telfar has won many important fashion awards. He won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2017. He was also named the best American Accessories Designer of the Year in both 2020 and 2021.

Early Life and Learning

Telfar Clemens was born in Lefrak City, Queens, New York, in 1985. His parents were from Liberia. His family moved back to Liberia for a short time.

Later, they moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland. This was to stay safe from the Second Liberian Civil War.

When Telfar was in high school, his teacher drew special symbols for all the students. The symbol his teacher gave him later became the famous logo for his brand.

In 2005, Telfar studied accounting at Pace University. He also worked as a DJ. He loved to shop for women's European clothes. He looked for brands like Yves Saint-Laurent and Maison Margiela.

Telfar then started his own fashion brand. It was called Telfar, named after himself. His brand made clothes for everyone, no matter their gender. He finished his accounting degree in 2008.

Telfar's Fashion Career

Telfar Clemens met Babak Radboy in 2004. Babak later joined Telfar's company in 2013. He became the creative director and a business partner.

In 2014, Telfar released his first Shopping Bag. This bag quickly became very popular. It is now known as a "must-have" item.

In September 2016, Telfar and Babak worked on an art show. It was at the Berlin Biennale. They also made a video with artists Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch.

In May 2017, Telfar worked with singer Solange Knowles. He designed outfits for her and her dancers. This was for a special show at the Guggenheim Museum.

In September 2017, Telfar designed uniforms for 400 White Castle restaurants. White Castle is a fast-food chain. In October 2017, he also made a special clothing collection with White Castle. All the money from this collection helped young people.

That year, he won the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. He received $400,000. He used much of this money to make more Telfar Shopping Bags.

In February 2019, Telfar showed his Fall Winter 2019 collection. The event was held at Irving Plaza in New York City. It celebrated Black future(s) month.

There were 1000 guests at the show. Models were crowd-surfed through the audience instead of walking a runway. This was a very unique fashion show!

In early 2020, Telfar announced a project with Gap Inc.. This collection was put on hold. This happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2020, Telfar started the Bag Security Program. This was a special online event for one day only. It allowed people to order bags ahead of time. This way, they were sure to get a bag for the holidays.

Telfar said he wanted people to get the bag they wanted. He also wanted to see how many bags they could sell in one day. This program has happened two more times since then, both in 2021.

In June 2020, Queerty magazine honored Telfar. They named him one of fifty heroes. This was for leading the nation towards equality. This was for the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade.

Telfar also launched a line of durags in September 2020. Soon after, he announced a project with UGG. This collection came out in fall 2021.

In September 2020, Telfar won another award. He was named Accessories Designer of the Year at the CFDA Awards.

In 2021, a large company called GUESS made a bag. Many people thought it looked just like the Telfar Shopping Bag. It had a "G-logo" instead of the Telfar logo. GUESS's bag maker decided to stop selling these bags. They said they did not want to stop Telfar's success.

Telfar gets ideas from designers like Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier. He also likes "lifestyle" brands. These include Calvin Klein and Polo Ralph Lauren.

Famous Designs

The Telfar Shopping Bag is made from vegan leather. It has the special "T" Telfar logo. Fashion magazines have called it a "must-have" bag. They also called it "the decade's most important accessory."

The bag was first inspired by shopping bags from Bloomingdale's. People sometimes call it the "Bushwick Birkin." This is because it is popular but also easy to get.

In 2018, singer Kelela wrote about the bag. It was in her column for T magazine.

The bag sells out very quickly every time it is restocked. In July 2020, the demand was so high that the website crashed. Telfar's team thought robots might be buying the bags. They worried robots were reselling them for more money. But they found out that most people buying them were real customers.

In November 2020, Oprah Winfrey chose the Telfar Bag. It was one of her 'Favorite Things'. Many famous people also promote the bag. These include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Dua Lipa.

In 2021, Telfar designed the official uniforms. These were for the Liberian team. They wore them at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

In 2022, singer Beyoncé mentioned the brand in her song "Summer Renaissance." She later wore a Telfar tracksuit. This was during her Renaissance World Tour.

Rapper Maiya The Don released a song called "Telfy" in October 2022. The song is all about the famous shopping bag.

Awards and Honors