Telfar bags sell out instantly if purchased outside of their bag security program and Beyoncé made sure to get her hands on the fashion-forward vegan-leather tote. The global music icon recently uploaded a photo dump to Instagram featuring her husband hip-hop titan Jay-Z, but even more eye-catching and to the delight of the brand’s fans, a medium white Telfar bag.
Carrying the bag designed by Telfar Clemens on her shoulder, she posed wearing wide-legged floral-printed trousers by Christopher John Rogers, another Black fashion designer. She paired the pants with a white tie-up crop top and finished the look with gold-rimmed shades and platform sandals.
Queen Bey is not the first or only famous fan of the Telfar brand. In fact, her sister, Grammy Award-winning musician Solange penned an essay celebrating the designer as he was one of 19 innovators on the TIME100 Next 2021 list.
“Where the industry restricts identity with outdated expressions of presentation, correctness, and exclusivity, Telfar has created a new language of truth, through design. The Telfar symbol is one that acts as an affirmation for how we fully and confidently show up in the world,” she wrote.
“It is Telfar’s own inspiringly firm sense of identity that makes possible the label’s uncompromising aesthetic: purposeful basics reimagined for a more inventive future. It was Telfar’s vision to translate the classic verve of an elegant tote into a symbol that speaks directly to the community it is intended to.”
The “Don’t Touch My Hair” singer also rocked Telfar for her Harpers Baazar digital cover in October 2020.
A$AP Ferg has also been spotted sporting Telfar. Tennessee rapper Bbymutha is often seen with her totes and name drops the bag on “Cocaine Catwalk” featured on her August 2020 album Muthaland. In September 2020, Baby Keem boasted “we got Telfar bags, what’s your taste level on?” in the second verse on his “sons & critics” freestyle.
Telfar bags have been certified as the “Bushwick Birkin” by makeup artist Xya Rachel according to The Cut. The staple bag comes in a variety of shades ranging from white and black to a vibrant orange tone and a hot pink. Totes are sized small, medium, and large and range in price from retail for $150 to $257. Unlike the luxurious Birkin bag, made by Hermès, Clemens prides his brand on being accessible and carries the motto “Telfar: it’s not for you, it’s for everyone.”
“I’m super proud of myself. And also like, I’m happy that it did take this time to actually foster itself,” he said during a September 2020 interview with CBS News. “I was doing this with no reward, no like, recognition, you know, but I was doing it because I wanted to do something that I could actually look back on and know that I was doing something cool.”
The Beyoncé boost is only one of the Telfar brand’s biggest moments so far this year. As VIBE previously reported, the anticipated UGG X TELFAR collaboration issued its first drop in June with both footwear and apparel. The cast of the Real Housewives of Potomac starred in an editorial shoot for Instyle Magazine celebrating the collection.
Telfar, already sold internationally, will also make a global point during the Tokyo Olympic Games. Vogue reported Clemens would be sponsoring and designing the uniforms for Team Liberia. The track-and-field athletes will wear uniforms by the designer who has Liberian roots and heritage. According to the fashion outlet, he created 70 pieces for the team, including sweats, unitards, duffel bags, and track spike, and incorporated both the flag of Liberia and his logo.