Telfar Responds to Overwhelming Demand With New 'Bag Security Program'

Telfar is aiming to remove the antiquated idea of exclusivity from luxury fashion by giving anyone who wants one the opportunity to buy a coveted bag.

August 17, 2020

Last month, those hoping to procure a Telfar bag were met with the astronomical annoyance of the e-commerce site shutting down.

In an interview with Complex that same month, founder and designer Telfar Clemens explained that this would have been unavoidable hiccup even without the presence of bots.

"The root of it is not that we shut [the site] because of bots, but simply because there was an over demand flowing into the site at once, a number that was way higher than the bots itself," Clemens told Aria Hughes at the time. "Essentially, we broke the internet."

Now, Telfar—a Black-owned and genderless fashion project dating back to 2004—is introducing a new way of procuring bags that aims to make the process much easier. And while the initiative comes with the caveat of a potentially longer waiting period with regards to actually receiving the bags, customers can take solace in the knowledge that the new approach means guaranteed bags for those who want them.

As announced on Monday, Telfar is introducing what it calls a new "bag security program." In a statement, the company explained that it’s not interested in "hype and scarcity" and instead remains focused on its goal of attainability. On Aug. 19, starting at 12 a.m. ET, shoppers can secure any size or color of the bags "for unlimited preorder" for 24 hours.

"The whole point of our bag is accessibility and community. But when thousands of bags sell per second we can't even know how many to make," a brand rep said. The "bag security program" aims to cure that.

Thus far, the announcement has been met with positive feedback, with several people noting that the brand should be given the same grace often offered to other brands when facing similar demand-based challenges: