Beyoncé has swapped her Hermès Birkin bag for the way more affordable Telfar, and now sales are sky-rocketing

If you’ve been listening to Beyoncé’s new album on repeat, you’ll know that she’s publicly denounced her Hermès Birkin handbag collection in favour of the small-but-cult (to those in the know) fashion brand Telfar, owned by queer black designer Telfar Clemens.

“This Telfar bag imported… Birkins? Them sh*t’s in storage,” she sings on her final track Summer Renaissance. It’s a pretty major namecheck for the brand, which makes its bags using vegan leather with a signature ‘T’ logo – and also counts the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Bella Hadid as fans.

Though much more affordable than an Hermès design, Telfar bags are pretty hard to get hold of, just like the famous Birkin. The £210 ($255) classic shopper – which even became known as the ‘Bushwick Birkin’ thanks to its popularity in the Brooklyn neighbourhood – regularly sells out completely, even more so since Beyoncé’s lyrical seal of approval.

Back in 2020, founder Telfar spoke out on the difficulty to keep the bag in stock. “We are not about hype and scarcity,” he said. “We didn’t set out to make an impossible to get product. The whole point of our bag is accessibility and community.”

This sense of kinship is no doubt what fans love about the fashion line. The brand regularly announces restocks over on its Instagram account, but pre-loved sites are also reporting that demand for Telfar handbags is soaring. According to Vogue Business, views spiked 85% on The RealReal resale site the day Beyonce’s Renaissance album was released.

The term ‘Telfar’ now has 149.6million views on TikTok, from fans sharing their collections to inspiring stories about founder Telfar Clemens, and of course the iconic ‘Telfeezy’ sound.

It doesn’t sound like Beyoncé is hanging up all her mainstream designer labels just yet though, since her lyric also goes: “Versace, Bottega, Prada, Balenciaga, Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy. Collect your coins Beyoncé.”

As part of the album artwork, the singer has also worn the likes of Schiaparelli, Gucci, Mugler and Rick Owens, as well as smaller independent designers such as Melissa Simon Hartman, Bethany Cordwell and Luis De Javier, who are also seeing well-deserved recognition. Never change, Beyoncé.