Telfar has been trending on Twitter all summer long, thanks to overwhelming demand for the label’s famed Shopping Bag silhouette aka the Brooklyn Birkin. Unfortunately for fans of the bag, Twitter has become a gathering place for those who weren’t fast enough to grab a bag during a pre-announced drop.
While having having demand exceed supply is usually viewed businesses as an excellent state of affairs, the brand’s founder/owner Telfar Clemens has consistently emphasized the label isn’t interested in following a scarcity model. In keeping with the brand’s “Telfar Not for You for Everyone” tagline, Telfar has announced plans for a 24-hour Shopping Bag pre-buy described as the Bag Security Program that takes place on August 29, 2020.
According to an announcement on the brand’s website, “We feel all the love we are getting, and we feel the frustration too. We are not about hype and scarcity. We didn’t set out to make an impossible to get product. The whole point of our bag is accessibility and community.”
The statement went on to explain that the main reason the brand is running into shortages is because of challenges of planning production as a small-sized company. The statement adds, “But the truth is (with or without the bots and resellers) when thousands of bags sell per second we can’t even know how many to make. We plan production 6 months in advance. It takes time and money to make bags and we are 100% self-financed.”
In an effort to provide everyone with a bag who wants a bag, Telfar has announced plans for a one-day pre-order Bag Security Program whereby all sizes of the silhouette in all colors will be available for 24 hours. Bags will be delivered no later than January 15th.
The rules for purchase are very specific. The bag must be paid for in full, including shipping and taxes. There are no refunds, cancellations or changes once the order is made. Bags are guaranteed to arrive between December 15th and January 15th.
Following the 24-hour pre-order opportunity, Telfar will continue to drop first-come-first-serve Shopping Bags drops. According to the brand, “We will continue to do bag drops between now and January. Those are bags we ordered months ago. It may look like your bag, but it’s not your bag.”
Telfar’s August 19th pre-order Bag Security Program opens at 9:00 AM EST and shops down 24 hours later. Bags are available in small, medium or large priced at $150, $202 and $257 respectively.
