During a heatwave weekend in New York, few people could be convinced to leave their AC units (or park tanning sessions), except for Telfar’s anniversary. The designer, Telfar Clemens, broke his hiatus from the runway on Saturday, June 21, with his SS25 show, which took place out on the street, in Cortlandt Alley, behind the brand’s flagship store. The wait was long (over two hours), the air was hot and the energy was low before someone from the brand grabbed a mic and yelled: “If you don’t like the looks, we don’t like you. If you snuck your way into a seat, we fuck with you.” Once models started walking down the runway, people erupted into cheers. The show that followed completely revived anyone who witnessed it. 

Telfar’s SS25 show, celebrating the brand’s 20-year milestone, paid homage to its New York beginnings. At Telfar’s launch, a then-teenage Telfar Clemens was working in his family apartment in Lefrak City, Queens. Today, it is the largest Black-owned fashion brand in the world, with over three million customers, and likely the longest-running genderless brand in history. Notably, Clemens has built his accessible empire while remaining 100% independent, remaining true to and in service of the community that makes Telfar a success. This was embedded into every element of Telfar’s SS25 show – from the show notes reading “free Palestine” and “free Congo” to the young girl sitting next to me, jumping up and down for her dad’s modelling debut – as it is embedded into every corner of the brand. Here’s everything you need to know.

THE COMMUNITY SHOWED OUT

There were up to 200 models on Saturday, including Telfar’s friends, family, Telfar's friends' families, the winners of Telfar’s reality-style casting show, New Models, and past and present collaborators of the brand. Every person who walked was part of Telfar’s collective story, including New York icons Raul Lopez, Danny Bowien and Precious Okoyomon. But the real tear-jerking moments were the ones when whole families, carrying babies and dogs, walked the runway, hand-in-hand. This wasn’t by any means a stuffy, silent show – there was laughter, tears and screams of joy. 

YOU CAN ALREADY BUY PIECES

Telfar’s SS25 collection has seven capsules, some of which are available to purchase immediately, with others dropping monthly between now and next fall. This meant that the runway was flooded with new styles and silhouettes, from formal shirting and suiting to deconstructed T-shirts with 20-year-anniversary prints. There were shirt-suits and jackets, flared, baggy and relaxed silhouettes. 

TELFAR TOOK IT TO INFINITY

The base of the collection, Khaki, came in beige, black and camouflage, but there was also plenty of accent pieces and (of course) Telfar logo placements, including a minimalist polo collection that gave a “disloyal take on Americana” and a body-con ensemble of contrast rib pieces that made way to a stretch denim collection. The presentation then finished with the new Infinity collection, a meditation on infinite ribbons of T-shirt rib, creating circular cut-outs (and denim skirts that turn into hanging cotton tank tops). 

THE DELI BAG HAD ITS MOMENT

In 2014, Telfar debuted a shopping bag with the exact dimensions of a paper shopping bag. Over ten years later, Telfar’s 20th anniversary show was flush with more Telfar-takes on the humble plastic bag, coming in 11 graphic designs and colourways. Inspired by classic New York deli bags, there were Liquor Store stripes, I heart NY prints and “Thank You for Shopping” smiley faces spotted down the runway. The new shopping bags will be available sometime in August, coming in two sizes of crinkly nylon with a scrunch handle for hand, shoulder or cross-body wear. 

AND... THERE’S A NEW TELFAR SHOPPER

The brand’s SS25 show introduced a new slouchy hobo tote into the mix. The Tie Bag is an evolution of the Telfar shopper, shedding its straps and extending at both ends into long gussets tapering to a point, which can be tied at the shoulder for an adjustable fit. We saw this in action at multiple points during the show, as models carried their Telfar bags at differing lengths, waving and clapping (and even smoking) down the runway. 

Telfar’s hero product, the Telfar bag, may be what the brand has become known for, but the SS25 show served as a reminder that Telfar’s legacy is so much more than any one product. Telfar is New York. Telfar is a breath of fresh air in an often entirely inaccessible industry. On Saturday, especially, Telfar was worth the wait.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page for Maxwell Vice's backstage images, and the gallery below for all the runway shots