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, the Telfar brand continues to grow in popularity and demand.
According to Vibe, Rebag’s 2022 Clair report stated that Telfar bags have the highest average value retention of any legacy luxury brand. According to the October 18 report, “for the first time, [Telfar’s] average value retention on the secondary market exceeds all legacy brands, including Hermès.”
Rebag described the report as a “consumer resource covering shifts within the luxury resale market pertaining to retained brand value and pricing trends” in a news release. The report also includes information on the best investment items, economic forecasts, and the most recent major collaborations.
Telfar has collaborated with brands such as Ugg, Eastpak, and Moose Knuckles. “Even though it’s in the contemporary price range, it carries the same type of status — the Telfar Shopping Bag could even be considered cooler — as owning a Hermès bag,” Rebag CEO Charles Gorra told WWD. “The fact that Telfar bags are highly sought after but difficult to obtain raises their brand value.”
“Chanel and Louis Vuitton are raising prices and limiting supply to increase their brand value at retail and resale,” Gorra continued. It demonstrates that with the right marketing strategy, hype, and prestige, a contemporary brand can achieve the success of a luxury brand.”
“On the secondary market, Tefar items have an average value retention of 195 percent, which means they appreciate nearly twice as much as their original retail price,” Gorra added.
According to Vibe, the average resale retention value of Hermès bags is 102%, while Louis Vuitton and Chanel are 82% and 87%, respectively.
Telfar Clemens founded the well-known eponymous fashion label in 2005. In 1985, the designer was born in Queens, New York to Liberian parents. The family attempted to live in Liberia but was forced to relocate to the United States when the Second Liberian Civil War broke out. However, the designer has always stated that he is proud of his Liberian heritage.
Celebrities such as Solange Knowles and Bella Hadid have been seen carrying the Liberian-American designer’s well-known Shopping Bag. In 2020, Oprah Winfrey added the bag to her “Favorite Things” list. The name “Bushwick Birkin” refers to the bag’s high demand and scarcity. The bags are also available for purchase at retail prices ranging from $150 to $300.
In order to alleviate the difficulties customers face when attempting to purchase the in-demand signature bag, the fashion house established its Bag Security Program in 2020, according to Page Six.
“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.”