Black Luxury Brand Designers Creating Waves in E-Commerce
Two New Yorkers are putting on for their city in unparalleled ways; you might have seen the bag, heard the name, but haven’t seen the face. Well, it’s time to get yourself acquainted with these unapologetically forward-thinking, culture-influencing designers.
Brooklyn-bred Brandon Blackwood of his namesake designer line and Queens native, Telfar Clemens of Telfar Global.
Both are creating lanes in the fashion industry as upcoming e-commerce luxury brands. With their affordable prices and expansive stylized selections, it’s no wonder Telfar and Brandon Blackwood are making other designers revisit their sketching pads.
What you rockin’ the Brooklyn-Birkin’?
A now well-established name in the fashion world, Telfar Clemens, a Liberian-American from Queens, New York created his custom-line in 2005. With over a decade of experience in the fashion industry, Telfar persevered through the growing pains and challenges as a budding fashion designer to mark his territory as a now cultural fashion icon with his very own brand. In 2014 and presently, nearing a decade worth of crafting his signature fashion line, Telfar released his brand of high-end, vegan leather tote shopping bags available in select colors and sizes. Telfar’s signature tote bags captivated new onlookers, catapulting the brand from being seen as a cheapened hood accessory to becoming a global sensation. Telfar’s tote bags sell out within minutes of each new release, as forewarned in the official website's running header. During a CBS News interview last year when asked about his perspective of whether the fashion industry was in dire need of changes, Telfar responds, “Yeah, I mean there’s so much that needed to be corrected and I think that as the industry is collapsing, I feel like our brand is rising because (you know) of what we stand for and who we are.”
The acclaimed “Brooklyn Birkin” is a genderless brand, unabashedly expressed in the tagline “it’s not for you, it’s for everyone.” Telfar’s audacious key messaging of inclusivity makes it more of a must-have statement piece to add to anyone’s closet. The brand’s overall representation of gender-neutral and non-discriminatory language is one that speaks directly to consumers' ethos, with an emphasis on humanizing each individual's experience regardless of how they choose to self-identify. Telfar’s handbags are adorned by an array of people from all walks of life including Hollywood celebs, hood famous figures, social influencers, and everyday fashionistas- posed with their desired color and size Telfar handbag. What makes Telfar a global fashion fav is its lush aesthetic with the perks of investing your well-earned coins for the fraction of a Hermes Birkin bag’s extravagant price tag.
Photo courtesy of Pagesix.com
“Is that a Brandon Blackwood bag?”
In the glory of celebrating #blackboyjoy, alongside Telfar, Brandon Blackwood is toe-to-toe with his designer counterpart when it comes to crashing the internet with their anticipated release of lavish Black-owned designer bags.
The Brooklyn-bred designer of Jamaican and Chinese descent initially emerged to the scene in 2015, with a personalized handbag collection named after his closest friends. Nearly six years later, his popular handbags are showcased all over the ‘gram and Twitter, worn by some of our favorite pop-culture icons.
On Monday May 10, the long-awaited pre-sale launch featuring over 200 custom styles and designs made by Brandon Blackwood was the 11th trending topic on Twitter. The highly anticipated line displays an assortment of styles perfect for your desired look, whether you choose the casual mini handbags, totes or the occasional glammed up “pop out with the pop-out” lush handbags, the versatile selection is abundant. Blackwood’s eclectic patterned bags represent the multifaceted styles of his supporters. Across social media platforms- where Blackwood receives his most recognition - his bags are posed with pop culture icons, like Halle Berry, Winnie Harlow, Doja Cat, and Rickey Thompson.
Photo courtesy of Instagram @brandonblackwoodnyc
\Blackwood’s pieces are not your typical overly monogrammatic mainstream designer bag (I’m not pointing fingers, but you know who I'm talking about). Blackwood incorporates his singular stylized brand name across his plethora of designs. His signature selection ranges from trunk-style, bandana, and animal-print to metallic-patent designs. Pre-sale prices average anywhere between $100 to $8,500.
A few days after his online release, Brandon Blackwood posted a message of gratitude to his virtual supporters via Instagram “Thanks for shopping cousins!1! When y’all get your bags in June, I want to see ALL the pics, videos, and slays!”
Without a doubt, this past year’s rise of racial unrest shifted conversations about identity and permitted centuries of lack of representation among designers of color in the fashion industry to rise amid the trending social dilemmas. The championing is long overdue and yet, has much further to go. In a society where European and Asian designer brands are widely celebrated and admired, it’s time we put the same energy into amplifying African, Black-identified, and Caribbean designers.
In white-dominated spaces that often depreciate diasporic people, especially unconventional groups who are marginalized within their communities, it’s peculiarly fascinating to witness the ascendance of queer African and Caribbean/Asian-identified men. This multi-layered dichotomy of gender, ethnic and sexual orientation, taking charge in a realm that holds its own deep-rooted perceptual biases towards each of these categories.
The tale of people triumphing from your city, especially when they’re the same hue as you, will never get old. It’s personal, even if the win is not yours to claim or the success-holders are distant strangers.
These designer bags are in high demand. Subscribe to their email lists and follow their official pages on social media, so you don't miss out on any upcoming sales and new designs. Purchase your conversation starters ASAP!
Image from Brandon Blackwood and Telfar official websites
And, if you’re looking to add more Black designer bags and apparel to your collection, get a head start on your black designer repertoire with these additional designers. I guarantee you’ll find a style representative of you. And you, too, will soon have your own accessorized conversation starter.
Follow these upcoming fashion designer lines. Support your local Black businesses:
@fantas_designs (African apparel)
@gray_xcv (https://holywatre.com/)
Black Owned Everything (https://blackownedeverything.co/)
@meta_noia (metanoiaapparelco.com) Swimwear and unisex casual clothing
Author bio
Yolanda Stewart (Yolee) is a creative: content creator, freelance writer, and a dancer at heart, from the Bronx, NYC. As a writer, with aspirations to pursue journalism, she often draws inspiration from her cultural/familial roots, the experiences of black/brown people, pop culture, media, and her life experiences, which she expresses through poetry. Yolee plans to continue her work as a freelancer and content creator, her current project 1st Generationerz is an ongoing YouTube series which explores the lives of 1st Generation American born and/or raised young adults (to immigrant parents) discussing their challenges of self-identification with national and cultural ties.