Black-owned luxury brands

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By Thean Sargeant

Aluxury brand isdefined as an expensive product or service provided by a particular company witha reputation for being of high quality. Luxury brand products cost anywhere from hundreds of dollars and upwards. While luxury brands are generallyseen as tenaciousin enteringintobrick-and-mortar stores, the exclusivity, considerably, lies in its cost.

Here are three Black founders of luxury brands.

Telfar Clemens

Telfar Clemens was an accounting student at Pace University in New York City. It was at university in 2005 that he created his unisex and vegan brandTelfar, named after himself. The brand’s logo is a monogram of Telfar’s initials. The company’s website shows that the brand offers its popular bag the Shopping Bag, a.k.a. the “it” bag, in all kinds of designs: denim, fleece, and monogram jacquard (the TC monogram printisall over). It also carries accessories likebelts, jewellery, apparel (select clothing drops and tracksuits), and shoes.

According to the website, Telfar has also collaborated with other brands: Eastpak, Melissa, Moose Knuckle, and UGG. The brand’s regular ‘Shopping Bag’ drops are highly exclusive on the Telfar website. The customer would have to order right away or wait for another drop. The brand can bepurchasedin Canada from stores likeBrown’s andHolt Renfrew, but they only sell collaboration bags.

Celebrities likeBeyoncé, Sasha Obama, and Bella Hadidhave been seen with a Telfar bag.

Jerry Lorenzo

Designer Jerry Lorenzo created Fear of God in 2011. Right away the brand sounds like a Christian company, but Lorenzo hassaid that while he is Christian, Fear of God is not a Christian company. The brand’s clothing wasinspired by Lorenzo wanting to make clothes he could also wear. Onearticle on medium.com describes the garments as “high-quality garments that were both stylish and comfortable” and “elevated basics.”

The comfortability of Lorenzo’s clothing comes from its oversized designs. Many of the clothes have a neutral colour palette. The brand expanded in 2018 when Lorenzo created Essentials, a lower-cost line similar to the outlet version of luxury brands. Since being in the fashionindustry, Lorenzo has styled celebrities and worked with Vans, Nike, and Adidas. Fear of God’sathletics line was launched in December 2023 in collaboration with Adidas. Only some clothes bear the Adidas logo.

Celebrities who have been seen wearing Fear of GodincludeJustin Bieber, Dwayne Wade, and Queen Latifah.

Sonique Saturday

This self-titled brand’s most popular products are designer-like bags with painted slogans. For instance, the most popular bag resembles aBirkin with the line “You Fake Like This Birkin” hand-painted across the front. The company’swebsite says Sonique has been in the fashion industry for over a decade. While in school, she customised a handbag for herself and it captured her classmates’ attention. She moved to Los Angeles in 2012 where she worked and networked. While working at a shop, Sonique painted a bag and displayed it in the windowwhich garnered attention.

The brand Sonique Saturday was born two years later. The brand started expanding in 2021 and now has more to offer like wall art, hats, phone cases, etc. Soniquesaid that this addition was done to attract more customers and has “enhanced the overall shopping experience.” Her bags arecustom-made to order and vegan (yes, there is abag with “Yep, It’s Vegan” painted on it). Sonique has apartnership with Urban Necessities in Las Vegas that has the bags displayed in the store. Shesays this “not only increased brand visibility, but also established a sense of trust among customers who preferred offline shopping.”