Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery presents Telfar Special project

Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery presents
Telfar
Special project

Event

Edition 97

09.01.2020

Place of the event

Date of the event

09.01.2020 16:37

The revolutionary unisex brand TELFAR is the Special Project of Pitti Uomo no. 97

Telfar Clemens – who founded the brand in 2005 in New York – brings his concept of fluid and ‘simplex’ (simple + complex) fashion to Florence with a special event in the historical Palazzo Corsini, involving many names from the community of artists and creatives gathered around the designer in an immersive 24-hour experience of fashion, art and performance, culminating in the special fashion show on Thursday 9 January.

“Telfar Clemens is one of the most interesting figures on the contemporary scene – says Lapo Cianchi, Director of Communication & Special Events at Pitti Immagine – For fifteen years, he has been promoting with tenacity an idea of inclusive and accessible fashion and business, with a project in which there is an unexpected blending of aesthetics, art, genre identity and functionality. We are happy to offer him the opportunity to present himself to the Pitti Uomo community, and I am sure that the event in Florence will provide further meaning to a message that is already strong and vibrant.”

“We are honored to be invited to show at Pitti Uomo – says the founder Telfar Clemens – where the deep sense of history and continuity sets the scene perfectly for something entirely new.”

The FW20 collection – presented in collaboration with Slam Jam – crosses baroque ornament and silhouette with humble material and form. T-shirts are braided at the seams, pleated like victorian nightshirts, laced at the chest or indolently scarved at the neck, waist or calf. Moto details and quilted puff, strap medieval armor across denim, leather and nylon. Gem-tone velours, and leather. The collection graphics are in collaboration with author Brontez Purnell, featuring illustrations from the Harlem Renaissance redrawn by hand to feature clothes by TELFAR and paired with typographic details.

TELFAR CLEMENS – BIO

Telfar Clemens was born in Queens, New York, to Liberian parents. He spent part of his childhood in Liberia and later moved back with his family to the United States. He began making his own clothes in high school because he couldn’t find clothes addressed to him in stores. In 2003 he began to create his own collection of deconstructed and reconstructed garments which he sold in the Lower East Side and Soho boutiques in New York City. In 2005 he launched his own 100% unisex fashion label entitled ‘TELFAR’ showing in downtown galleries and clubs. Before the fashion world caught on Telfar showed in museums around the world including the Guggenheim and New Museum, NY; ICA and Serpentine, London; and a 10 years retrospective at the IXth Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. In 2017, Telfar won the CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund award. His hit bag is nearly ubiquitous in certain circles and his clothes are sold internationally at stores like Galleries Lafayette and Dover Street Market. He has collaborated with brands like Converse and the fast-food chain White Castle, for which he has created unisex uniforms and a capsule in which all proceeds were used to pay bail for young people held at Rikers Island prison, NY. Telfar’s collection incorporates unisex designs with the principles of comfortable sportswear and “simplexity.” Presented in partnership with Slam Jam.