Of course Telfar staged the biggest prank of fashion month

Two weeks ago, Telfar sent invites for an off-calendar runway show in Paris on October 6 during Paris Fashion Week. It was the first time the New York City designer Telfar Clemens switched cities for a showing in seven years. When it came time to unveil his spring/summer 2027 collection, titled “SS,” on Tuesday night, it was presumed to be another runway show. But Clemens has never been a designer who plays by traditional fashion rules.

Roughly 300 guests filed into the Daunou Theatre, a historic venue located in Paris’ 2nd arrondissement. While phones were held high, ready to capture the latest collection hitting the catwalk, a model emerged to answer a ringing telephone. It was Clemens, who projected himself on a screen behind the stage to inform his Parisian guests that the runway show they thought they were about to witness was actually unfolding thousands of miles away in New York City — and they could watch on a livestream.

As for N.Y.C.? Days earlier, the brand had advertised a sample sale. On Tuesday evening, as hundreds of eager shoppers lined up at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center ready to trade in their old bags for new ones straight from the warehouse, the sample sale became the runway.

Telfar’s dedication to an anti-establishment ethos is exactly why the brand has cultivated a cult fanbase for as long as it has. From the beginning, the brand's whole-hearted embrace of their iconic bag's "Bushwick Birkin" status and their refusal to turn it into an exclusive item but keep it an accessible accessory proved it existed to serve the people. And while Telfar gets praise now with this mission, it hasn’t always been this way.

Since Clemens launched his eponymous label two decades ago, his mission statement and the brand’s identity has been called into question. “Is it a luxury brand, an internet phenomenon, a social experiment, a genderless fashion project, or something else entirely?” wrote the show notes of his latest collection, seemingly referencing the criticism. But, as usual, Telfar's latest presentation didn't appear interested in answering those questions. Instead, Clemens did what he's always done: serving the community and city that has had his back when the industry didn’t recognize his worth.

In an era when people and brands clamor for clout, Clemens has always understood the importance of staying laser-focused on his vision. “If you can’t determine value, you are determined by it,” Clemens printed in the show notes. It’s likely the reason he opted out of fashion week the past several seasons: He’s all for putting on a performance, but only on his terms.

As for the new collection, Clemens remixed corporate attire with his signature streetwear flair, inspired by “the well-suited day traders drag into the night,” per the show notes. Blazers, skirts, and trousers were flipped inside out. Leopard- and snake-printed tops, baby tees, bodysuits, scarf-halters, and leggings, along with moto-inspired jackets and pants, studded the collection. Throughout the show, the brand alluded to three new, metal-trimmed handbag silhouettes slated to drop next year.

By taking Paris Fashion Week, regarded as fashion’s biggest platform, and flipping the camera, he challenged the industry’s power players by taking control of his own narrative. One thing is clear: Clemens loves a gag, but he loves the people more.