Telfar’s New Pricing Model Redefines Value in Fashion
In upending the idea that value and exclusivity must be coterminous, the brand proposes what they call “a new mathematics for black cultural innovation,” one wherein the people that originate popular culture are not denied a stake in it. And even as it disrupts the rules of the fashion world, Telfar still knows its own limitations as a company; the “WARNING” on its website makes sure to remind us that TELFAR LIVE “is not a replacement for real political struggle,” forgoing the self-aggrandizing tendency to conflate Black business with Black liberation.
TELFAR LIVE is just as much a practical business decision as it is a statement. “If we price our clothes according to how cool they are; less cool people can afford them,” the brand explained. “If less cool people can afford them, we can’t make as many. If we can’t make as many, the clothes will stay expensive. That’s not cool.” As simple as it sounds, this strategy runs counter to the dominant ethos of business and branding in fashion while still ensuring economic growth.
With this price model, Telfar is thoroughly dismissing the capitalist-realist conventions that have confined the brand’s peers and predecessors. From FUBU and Pharell’s Billionaire Boys Club to the late Virgil Abloh’s Off White and Kanye West’s Yeezy, Black designers and Black-owned brands have often historically relied on models of mass hype, individual celebrity, and inaccessible pricing to sustain excitement around their products that could rival recognizable status-symbol luxury brands. Many had feared Telfar would resort to the same methods following its initial success, but TELFAR LIVE is merely a continuation of the brands’ steadfast commitment to keeping luxury accessible to its original audience.
The brand is aware of how its new price model is also an abdication of Black exceptionalism. The tongue-in-cheek “DOUBLE WARNING” adds: “TELFAR LIVE is not for everyone: if you are experiencing symptoms of clout chasing, elite capture, are suffering from black excellence, a seat at the table, party politics, have or will be pregnant with your colonizers' weaponization of beauty, legibility and truth — ask your ancestors first to find out if TELFAR LIVE is right for you.” Even with its originally low price point, Telfar now has the highest resale value of any fashion brand at 195% retail value. But the brand is refusing to exploit this cultural prominence in order to conform to and perpetuate the rules of the game. Telfar has no interest in abandoning its roots or shutting the door behind itself. Even if Beyoncé owns a Bushwick Birkin, everyday people will remain Telfar’s muse.
