Telfar Clemens, founder of fashion brand Telfar, describes the early financial constraints and supply hurdles of launching his clothing line.
Insight
Clemens: Formal fashion training is unnecessary to direct and create design
“I don't think you need any kind of formal training to do that, or necessarily, it's like, sometimes ripping something and telling someone to do that thing that you just did is like the thing that you need to do, you know, to get what you want. It's not a refin…”
Opinion
Telfar Clemens: Early unisex fashion was superficial before Telfar
“There's no line that was Like unisex at that time, that was coming from the place that mine was. Everything was like, oh, a dress on a man meant unisex.”
Disclosure
Telfar Clemens cannot sew and relies on collaborators to construct garments
“I was bad at it, and I'm still bad at it. Like, I can't sew for shit, and I wouldn't want to. That's when I, you know, I really, like, you know, I'm blessed enough to have, like, great people that work with me that make things the way how they should be made”
Disclosure
Clemens plans to open physical retail stores with apparel and lifestyle goods
“I want it to be accessible. Like, you can go to a store and get the things that you want to get, you know. A Telfar store. Definitely clothes, definitely accessories, and definitely an experience. Candles, pianos, bath bombs.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Clemens intentionally failed private school placement tests to avoid wearing uniforms
“Every single placement test that I would take, I would mark A-A-A-A-A-A all the way down to placement test so I wouldn't get in.”
Disclosure
Clemens concealed his age starting out in NYC to avoid industry disrespect
“I had this whole thing that I wouldn't tell anyone how old I was. Like, my best friends, they didn't know I was 18 until I was 21, you know? Like, they thought I was 21 the whole time, because I always just immediately would just feel, like, this amount of dis…”