Telfar marked its 20th anniversary on Saturday night of Juneteenth weekend in New York City by doing what the brand does best: celebrating its loyal community through a high-energy fashion display.
“This show celebrates our 20th anniversary. Everything Telfar couldn’t rely on when we started this line: investors, buyers, factors, distributors, press, celebs, co-signs, d, e or i — we still don’t rely on today,” designer and founder Telfar Clemens’ show notes read. “Everything we did rely on — family, friends, vision, bulls–t-alarms and commitment — holds us down to this day.”
Held on one block of Cortland Alley, models emerged in the designer’s latest looks from a back door of the Black-owned genderless brand’s flagship at 408 Broadway. While the show started two hours late, that was easy to forget once the live music kicked off and more than 100 models of all ages, gender expressions and races emerged into the alley beneath hanging clotheslines filled with the brand’s signature Half tanks.
On the runway, Clemens’ spring 2025 collection extended the brand’s latest Infinity capsule of reworked classic garments, with cool new takes on stretchy blue denim, modular Infinity looped tanks, blouses, leggings, T-shirts, sweatshirts, dresses and skirts in ombre hues or with a variety of graphics reminiscent of the nearby Canal Street tourist merchandise, including logoed riffs on the iconic “I Heart NY.” Beyond ready-to-wear — which also included new hybrid sarong pants, eased up cotton work jackets and pants, and cool street-friendly, pajama-esque layers — the graphics fronted new must-have luxe handbags that were inspired by plastic shopping bags. For Telfar fans eager to get their hands on this next “It” bag, the wait won’t be long: the collection is currently dropping, and will continue to every month “until next season,” show notes read.
As each new group of looks emerged, the number of models donning them continued to grow, as seen through dozens of the ensemble donning happy summer pastel, reworked cotton pique polos (backward, wrapped, maxi, etc.), hybrid tracksuits and perforated logoed windbreakers, and many more. It was an impressive fashion block party filled with covetable new styles rooted in reality and celebration of the brand.
After a three-year hiatus from the runway, Clemens’ strong display of friends and family — including new faces cast from Wednesday night’s TelfarTV “New Models” one-hour special and Luar’s Raul Lopez strutting the runway while Solange Knowles watched from her seat — proved the power of community and culture that Telfar has built on for the last two decades — and will continue to for years to come.