The Telfar brand continues to rise in popularity and demand after a recent report revealed that bags by the Liberian-American-owned fashion house have a higher resale market value than legacy luxury brands such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel.
According to Vibe, Rebag’s 2022 Clair report stated that the average value retention of Telfar bags exceeds all legacy luxury brands. “For the first time, [Telfar’s] average value retention on the secondary market exceeds all legacy brands, including Hermès,” the October 18 report stated.
Contemporary Price, Luxury Status
In a news release, Rebag said the report is a “consumer resource covering shifts within the luxury resale market on retained brand value and pricing trends.” The report also details the best investment items, economic forecasts, and the current biggest collaborations.
Brands such as Ugg, Eastpak, and Moose Knuckles have collaborated with Telfar. “Even though it’s in the contemporary category price-wise, it carries the same type of status—the Telfar Shopping Bag could even be considered cooler—[as] owning a Hermès bag,” the chief executive officer of Rebag, Charles Gorra, told WWD. “The fact that Telfar bags are so coveted but difficult to obtain drives their brand value up.”
Gorra continued: “Chanel and Louis Vuitton are increasing prices and limiting their supply to increase their brand value at retail and resale. It shows that a contemporary brand can achieve the success of a luxury brand with the right amount of marketing strategy, hype, and prestige.”
“Telfar items, on average, carry an average value retention of 195 percent on the secondary market, meaning that they appreciate nearly twice as much as their original retail price,” Gorra added.
Per Vibe, the average resale retention value of Hermès bags stands at 102%, while that of Louis Vuitton and Chanel is 82% and 87%, respectively.
Telfar Clemens’ is Proud of His Heritage
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Telfar Clemens founded the popular eponymous fashion brand in 2005. The designer was born in Queens, New York, to Liberian parents in 1985. The family tried to live in Liberia but had to resettle in the United States at the onset of the Second Liberian Civil War. But the designer has always spoken about being proud of his Liberian heritage.
Celebrities Love Telfar Bags
Celebrities including Solange Knowles and Bella Hadid have been spotted holding the Liberian-American designer’s signature Shopping Bag. Oprah Winfrey also added the bag to her “Favorite Things” list in 2020. The bag’s huge demand and scarcity is the reason behind its “Bushwick Birkin” nickname. The bags are sold at retail prices that range between $150 and $300.
In an effort to mitigate the setbacks customers face while trying to purchase the in-demand signature bag, the fashion house set up its Bag Security Program in 2020, Page Six reported.
“We are not about hype and scarcity,” Clemens said in a press release to announce the program. “We didn’t set out to make an impossible-to-get product. The whole point of our bag is accessibility and community.”
