The Bushwick Birkin

Cities are fragments—each neighborhood a different backdrop. Bushwick, Brooklyn, follows that rhythm. Assembled among brick townhouses resides the gentrification portending neighborhood café, the ethnically ambiguous neighborhood bodega, the old lady on the stoop who serves as the neighborhood watch, and the genderless neighborhood bag: The Telfar shopping bag, also known as the Bushwick Birkin.

In recent years, the Telfar shopping bag has become a status symbol for cool kids aligned with the label’s mantra: “It’s not for you, it’s for everyone.” For founder and designer Telfar Clemens, its significance goes beyond luxury: “What makes the bag really different is that it is a status bag, and the status has nothing to do with price.” Offered in three sizes and nine colors, the “TC” logo tote hangs on the arms of young, creative New Yorkers rather than Manhattan’s socialite

The inspiration behind the hero product came to Clemens a few Christmases ago. "Just looking at everyone with their paper shopping bags, I realized that this is a completely unisex silhouette. We measured a Bloomingdale's bag to make the first sample. When it came to the price, I based it on what a DJ might make in a night; that’s what felt right for me,” explains Clemens, who used to DJ in his home neighborhood of Queens in his 20s. For a brand on the rise like Telfar, who generated more than $2 million in revenue in 2019 following a 15-year-build-up, COVID-19 could not have come at a worse time.

“There were so many opportunities that were on the brink of happening that there is no reason to follow up on right now,” admits creative director Babak Radboy, referring to an indefinitely postponed Gap partnership as one of the many.

What sets Telfar apart from other young, trendy labels is its community—a loyal network of customers and collaborators who built genuine ties with the brand. It grew through an old-school, word-of-mouth approach every PR campaign dreams of: first on the train, then at the coffee shop, then at brunch, and soon enough, people started to wonder what the hell it was. Even in the middle of the pandemic, the label sold out 1,000 bags on its e-commerce site in just 12 hours.

You need interested people to be invested in your work for it to succeed—and Telfar has achieved exactly that. While this doesn’t guarantee the label’s survival through a recession, it sure does underscore an interesting point for brands that pour fortunes into influencer campaigns and glossy advertising, only to  become one-season wonders. Customers acquired by manufactured hype are rarely sustainable; even when they generate short-term momentum, brands that prioritize quality over quantity are more likely to endure.

Telfar’s customers stand apart because they show up when the brand needs them most. It would be unfair to expect that kind of loyalty from someone who bought a product out of social media curiosity. Though it’s hard to predict which brands will weather the COVID-19 era and its aftermath, those with strong, engaged communities—like Telfar—appear to have the upper hand, at least for now.