Queens native and CFDA nominee Telfar Clemens through his Telfar brand has created an eight-piece capsule in collaboration with White Castle, a fast food favorite of the designer growing up. Titled “LeFrak,” the capsule references the giant apartment complex located adjacent to his go-to White Castle (which he still frequents).
Offerings include hoodies, t-shirts and caps referencing Telfar and White Castle logos, as well as a call out to the restaurant’s zip code.
Priced from $60-$220, the line will be sold on shop.telfar.net and at the White Castle in Queens. Proceeds from the items sold at the Queens location will be donated to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Liberty and Justice fund, whose efforts are focused on helping to bail out minors being held on Rikers Island.
In a Vogue interview with Telfar creative director Babak Radboy at the launch event (where Cam’ron performed!), Radboy expanded on the brand’s connection with the fast food chain.”When I started visiting different White Castles around New York, none are in Manhattan anymore, I realized that their story and the Telfar story really connect,” said Radboy. “To be honest, it’s really about starting out in public housing areas and the idea of gentrification, so that made me want to take the zip codes of these different locations and make that our headline.”
Telfar plans to release the collection at 60 different White Castle locations throughout the United States, highlighting zip codes as a ways to tell stories of communities often under represented.
The White Castle and Telfar capsule collection is available at shop.telfar.net.