Telfar hasn't strayed from its egalitarian slogan, "Not for you — for everyone," since launching back in 2005. Its latest endeavor, a live pricing model that determines cost based on customer demand, puts founder Telfar Clemens' tagline to the test.
The brand's next collection, scheduled to drop on March 27 at noon EST, won't feature set retail prices. Instead, the speed at which items sell will dictate their price tag.
Each item in the range will start at wholesale price, the amount a stockist pays when purchasing products from a manufacturer in large quantities. This introductory price will rise incrementally until it reaches MSRP (the amount a garment would be sold for in a store). If an item sells out before reaching MSRP, it will remain at that discounted figure permanently.
To illustrate: If a hoodie's wholesale price is $100 and reaches $110 at the time it sells out, that hoodie will cost $110 in all future Telfar collections. This unorthodox model ensures that the collection's fastest-selling, and therefore most popular, items are the most affordable. Of course, this flips the script on traditional brand strategy, in which the most in-demand items are typically priced at a mark-up.
“Many brands use price as a barrier to entry,” Clemens said in a recent interview. “I never wanted that for my brand.”
A press release expands: "Telfar Live disrupts existing notions of supply and demand, scarcity and value perception — proposing a new mathematics for Black cultural innovation: Cool people ≠ rich people — therefore — cool clothes ≠ expensive clothes."
Don't expect to grab Telfar's new Pill bag or wallet on the cheap — the Live Price collection is comprised exclusively of clothing including hoodies, sweatpants, and the brand's signature cut-out jeans. New items will release every week through April 24.
Cursors at the ready: The opportunity to cop Telfar gear at wholesale prices isn't one you'll want to pass up.
