“I Want to Bring Back Loitering”—Telfar Clemens and Babak Radboy on a Rule-Breaking New Telfar Store That’s Poised to Redefine Retail as We Know It

The last time Telfar Clemens spoke to Vogue Runway was in early 2022 backstage at his fall show, which coincided with the launch of Telfar TV, a live TV streaming channel that’s the designer’s answer to QVC. Prior to that, British Vogue interviewed Clemens at his studio following his spring 2020 debut at Paris Fashion Week.

The fashion world has changed a lot since that conversation: Short-form video content by way of TikTok has taken over the world, viral micro-trends toppled the traditional fashion cycle, and Gen Z has redefined personal style. Telfar has changed too.

Beyond Telfar TV, the label stepped away from the runways and eventually stopped showing collections in the traditional format altogether. Clemens has also collaborated with Ugg, Eastpack, Converse, and Moose Knuckles, and was name-dropped by Beyoncé in a song on Renaissance. Earlier this year, the brand launched a leather version of its signature bag at Selfridges, one of London’s premier department stores, in September.

Back in 2022 Clemens took over an entirely different kind of brick-and-mortar location with a Rainbow store pop-up in New York. At the time he announced plans for a permanent store in the city. Now that space is finally opening at 408 Broadway next Saturday, November 23. The 10,000 sq. ft. flagship will be the IRL embodiment of the URL-first, culture-defining Telfar approach: Its main attraction is a giant LED screen wall streaming Telfar TV, which turns the brand’s content-obsessed shoppers into living mannequins. It’s the culmination of the social shopping dream that the industry has been trying to materialize for years.

I sat down with Clemens and Babak Radboy, the brand’s long-time artistic director, to discuss the new store, the impact of their internet-breaking approach, the state of New York City’s fashion, and how together they’re going to make Telfar ready-to-wear as big as its It-bag.

Courtesy of Telfar & Pierce Robinson

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

It’s been a minute since you’ve spoken with Vogue, Telfar, how are you?

Telfar Clemens: Busy, really busy, but good. Just getting ready for this next chapter of Telfar. We’ve taken our time to refine what we do, what the product is, what the mission is, what we want to do, and really creating a space now that is going to be able to be experienced by everybody.