Telfar Clemens - founder of the eponymous brand, which has been in business since long before the Shopping Bag - made it his company’s motto to make designs “not for you, for everyone,” including, and perhaps especially, those who can’t typically afford designer brands. That universal appeal is by design the bag’s nickname, the “Bushwick Birkin,” combines the names of the once-industrial, now-hip Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn and the notoriously exclusive ( priced up to six figures) Hermès Birkin handbags. By contrast, even the most expensive Shopping Bags often cost less than $300. A Telfar bag even served as a plot point on the ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary.”īut they’re also a common sight among Brooklyn creatives or as office-worker tote bags. The bags - modeled after the shape of a Bloomingdale’s shopping bag - have been worn by everyone from Beyoncé and model Bella Hadid to US Rep. Boxy, colorful and emblazoned with the brand’s signature “TC” logo, Telfar’s “Shopping Bag” handbags have for years been prized accessories among the fashion conscious.
