Fashion designer Telfar Clemens announced plans to end the brand’s game-changing Bag Security Program as he gears up for a launch of brick-and-mortar stores.
On June 7, Clemens announced the drop coming the week of June 11 would be it’s last within the Bag Security Program, Business of Fashion reports. According to the CFDA winner, the brand is ending the program to pursue less social media-driven options like the TelfarTV streaming platform and the physical store locations coming in 2024.
”Bag security changed our lives and changed fashion … and we were able to leave the fashion system,” Clemens said.
“We literally do exactly what we want as a company. That’s exactly what we are doing by moving on from it, too.”
Clemens launched the Bag Security Program in 2020 to combat the bots and resellers that rush to grab up new product releases and resell them at hiked-up prices. In response, Telfar started allowing buyers to make unlimited pre-orders for certain styles without fear the popular and viral items would sell out.
It came at a time when most fashion companies were taking a hit while Telfar saw one of its best years yet, as noted by Today. A Year in Fashion Report cites the 270% increase week-over-week since August 2020 that Telfar saw while a global pandemic shut down the world.
The brand sells a variety of handbags and apparel but its Shopping Bag, ranging in price from $150 to $257, remains its most popular item. Especially since Beyonce started shouting the brand out in her songs. Typically, any time Telfar drops a new Shopping Bag, it immediately sells out and leaves many loyal buyers upset about not securing a new piece.
The Queens native’s announcement came one week after his brand sent out text messages to its customer base informing them about a secret sale where they had one-hour exclusive access to purchase any Telfar product. Now fans can gear up for Telfar stores where they can buy items in person and not compete against bots.