Photo Courtesy of Telfar
Popular Black-owned unisex fashion brand Telfar is breaking the barrier with luxury brands’ pricing. The creator, Telfar Clemens, disclosed that shoppers would determine his products’ prices next week with Telfar’s latest pricing model.
The most popular items are typically the fast-selling ones and usually, come with a high price tag. Clemens, on the contrary, wants his fast-selling products to be low-priced, making them more accessible.
“Many brands use price as a barrier to entry,” Clemens told Fast Company. “I never wanted that for my brand.”
The fashion designer and the company’s creative director Babak Radboy developed the idea after observing the downside of eminent fashion brands like Coach and Chanel.
They peremptorily charge more for their popular items, assuming consumers would blow their wallets. But Clemens built Telfar with an affordability ideology, striving to appeal to all demographics, not just those who can afford to spend thousands on a handbag.
“The more we thought about it, the more it became clear that the pricing model in fashion doesn’t make any sense,” Radboy said.
The two settled on developing a new pricing method, deciding to keep popular items cheaper. This method allows the company to place large orders for future collections and bargain for lower prices.
Next week, customers will see the product at wholesale price. The “forever price” will be up to them. The final cost is dictated by what sells out. For example, if Clemens’ wallets are set to $20 and sell out, the final price would be $20 for those wallets and future collections.
Prices will increase over time — about $10 to $20 a week.
Clemens’ pricing tactic addresses the fashion industry’s affordability and overordering issues (like Addidas with Yeezys). The fashion designer’s customers will easily access his popular items while he won’t have to worry about struggling to sell leftovers.
“I want people who want my clothes — and will look cool in it — to be able to get it,” Clemens remarked.
Clemens’ pricing experiment applies
to all new unisex clothing the company drops from next week to April 24.The fashion brand’s creator started his business in 2005, launching his famous bags in 2014. In 2020, Telfar gained much popularity with celebrities like Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Zoe Kravitz, Selena Gomez and more flaunting his purses. ABC’s Abbot Elementary even showed the Black-owned brand some love during its Valentine’s Day episode (season 2, episode 14 — 2.14), where Janine’s boyfriend Maurice gifted her a Telfar bag, according to Sis2Sis.