Telfar lovers unite! Telfar is officially opening up its first permanent retail store in New York City. The store will be located in the heart of SoHo, a shopping destination largely associated with counterfeit handbags.
Designed to be a hybrid retail destination and television studio to house Telfar TV the new brick-and-mortar will serve as a real space that acts as a home for the brand. Due to the brand’s hardcore fanbase, it’s clear that a physical space was needed. Also! Since many of the interactions the brand has with its audience online, it’s fitting that the brand will now have a physical space for its fans and supporters. Culture happens in real life just as much as it happens in digital spaces. The physical store will launch just as Telfar Clemens and his brand are celebrating 20 years in business.
“Everybody knows our name—but people don’t really know our history. We want to make ourselves clear: Telfar is the biggest black-owned brand in fashion history—and we are about to turn 20 years old,” Clemens tells ESSENCE.
The store will encompass a 10,000-square-foot retail floor. A TV studio will also be in the space–those who drop in will be able to shoot their own content. Also! Something that feels quite exciting–an assortment of digital screens that play real-time footage from the store and content submitted by fans.
That’s not all. There will also be a cocooned space dedicated to the brand’s ready-to-wear pieces and a bag bar designed with an illuminated Chinese takeout-style menu. Every bag ever made will be featured. Bags that haven’t been revealed will be previewed too before they officially become available.
“We have been designing 360–conceptual fashion collections since 2005—and it’s been non-gendered and for us from day one. You have to try that on in person. And the stores don’t exist for that person. So we are going to build them,” shared Clemens.
Telfar’s flagship launch celebration will take place on November 23. Special guests will drop in. And of course, fittingly a brand new bag drop is slated to launch.
Telfar
408 Broadway, New York, NY 10013
