New York-based Telfar as lead by Liberia-American designer Telfar Clemens today announced the label will design Liberia’s Olympic uniforms. As part of the sponsorship, the New York-based brand will also cover the team’s food and travel costs to Tokyo where the event will begin on July 23rd.
Telfar will outfit all five of Liberia’s track and field competitors with a 70-piece collection that includes a sweatsuit, leggings, unitard, duffel bag and racing spikes.
The idea to partner with Telfar was sparked by Liberian sprinter Emmanuel Matadi‘s girlfriend, who is a big fan of Telfar’s Shopping Bag and follows the brand on Instagram. Matadi mentioned the idea to Liberia’s Olympic attaché and former runner Kouty Mawenh, who viewed the partnership as an opportunity to merge Liberian talent.
Noting that the collection will mark the brand’s entry into activewear, Clemens told the NY Times, “It will be an evergreen collection. These are clothes we want to sell for the rest of our lives.”
In 1990 when he was five, Clemens’ immediate family emigrated to the United States to flee chaos caused by the First Liberian Civil War.
