If you’ve ever tried to secure one of the ever iconic Teflar Shopping Bags on the day of a much anticipated drop, you know the chaos that can ensue. Bags selling out in seconds, webpages crashing, hundreds of thousands of people tweeting – you get the point. That is why the brand started their one-of-a-kind Bag Security Program back in 2020, allowing customers to pre-order any Shopping Bag their heart desired. Now, Telfar has announced their fifth and final Bag Security Program will be from June 16th to 18th, giving shoppers one last chance to avoid the stress of a drop while also offering their fastest delivery yet. 

Telfar’s unlimited pre-order model ignored fashion’s logic of exclusivity and scarcity, instead allowing customers to order any bag, in any size and any color, and have it custom made for them. And yet, it was this exact model that propelled the style to it-bag status, making its customers it’s only investors and allowing the Black owned brand a level of independence unprecedented in the fashion industry. 

“Bag security changed our lives and changed fashion. NY literally looks different — and we were able to leave the fashion system. We literally do exactly what we want as a company,” shared Telfar Clemens. “That’s exactly what we are doing by moving on from it, too. We want people to be able to get our bags — but also for people who get our bags to GET US. Otherwise what is it? So we want to make it both easier and harder. Because it’s never been about money. So it better be about something.”

Courtesy of Telfar

In addition to their unique styles and numerous offerings, Telfar’s marketing strategy has also set them apart from other brands. Just last week, the brand launched a secret sale via SMS by texting customers with the information and instructions to “don’t tell anyone,” – which of course went viral, trending at number five on Twitter. To publicize the last Bag Security Program, Telfar held one-on-one Zoom calls with customers to inform them about the news personally, then used the recordings on screens around New York including at Barclays, the big screen of the Greenpoint drive-in and LED box trucks traveling around the city. 

The end of Bag Security concludes an iconic era for the brand – but also ushers in a new one. TELFARTV, the brand’s streaming platform, will be the forefront of the brand’s campaign strategy, and a highly anticipated brick and mortar store is planned to open in 2024. 

“We are really trying to be true to the fact that TELFAR is something we do WITH our customers,” shares Telfar partner and creative director Babak Radboy. “They make it up as much as we do — so as we grow, other brands’ blueprints don’t fit. We have to do everything differently.”

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