Who gets to model? Telfar Clemens, the eponymous designer of Telfar, will give his audience the power to decide through the first season of New Models – a new reality-style casting show – premiering on the brand’s public access live broadcasting channel, TelfarTV, tonight at 8pm (EST). “We need a new model – not of representation but of agency – so we started a modeling agency,” says Clemens and Babak Radboy. There will be a live vote during the broadcast, where viewers can cast their picks for Telfar’s upcoming 20th anniversary show in New York, happening this Saturday, June 21. 

The hour-long special was filmed in Telfar’s flagship store, which opened late 2024, allowing more customers to purchase their once notoriously hard-to-get bags. Most known for its shopping bag, Telfar – whose slogan is “Not for You – for Everyone” – has long emphasised an equitable approach to luxury fashion, prioritising inclusivity, community building and accessibility. New Models is a logical next step for TelfarTV, launched in 2021 as a live, unscripted response to censorship, visibility and community broadcasting. During the broadcast, audiences can expect to watch contestants show off their personalities by participating in challenges and performances, while live chats and timed voting prompts happen concurrently. 

In Telfar’s past runway shows – the last one in 2022 – and campaigns, the brand has always cast models diverse in size, race and sexuality, a factor that allowed their community to see themselves reflected in the brand. With this hybrid game show and media experiment, Telfar attempts to democratise the notoriously gatekept modelling industry, specifically, opening the door to be truly diverse and inclusive, not just performatively so. Telfar wants the audience to reexamine what a model is, who gets to be seen and who should have the power to decide.

“When we say new models, we are not really talking about fashion models. We just came through a very specific model since 2020. It was a model based on representation, and it didn't work. Or maybe it worked exactly as intended, but in any case, that old model is killing us,” says Clemens and Babak Radboy. “We need a new model. A model without representation. And we are trying to find it together.” Out of dozens of runway-hopefuls, only the winners will walk on the 20th anniversary stage. 

Watch the full episode now.