On Thursday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram Stories to show her support for a fellow New York native, designer Telfar Clemens. In her post, Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York’s 14th congressional district, shared an image of two young girls in Queens carrying Telfar bags with the caption, “Telfar is now known as a globally celebrated designer, but did you know this Black, LGBTQ+ designer and founder got their start in Lefrak City, Queens? That’s right! Telfar Clemens is a hometown hero from our district!” She concluded the story by writing, “Our community is so proud!”
Just two days later, on Saturday, AOC was spotted wearing a bleach tie-dye face mask, black skinny jeans, and a fitted black blazer outside of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Even better than her on-trend mask was the bag she had slung over her left shoulder: a medium-sized Telfar Shopping Bag in the colour oxblood, which also matched her nail polish shade.
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Her Telfar bag made yet another appearance when AOC posted a series of Instagram Stories, giving her 6.3 million followers a look at its contents. “What I bring with me to prep for a hearing,” she wrote to introduce the “What’s in my bag” series. According to the posts that followed, she always has a shawl — because, according to her, “no matter how hot it is, the A/C in office and hearing rooms can be crazy.” She also carries a pair of sunglasses, her daily binder, and her notebooks, as well as an iPad, “bc technology.” Before concluding the series, she showed off her reusable water bottle ("I try to minimise plastic water bottle use"), dental bag ("now that I have clear braces I need to brush my teeth and floss 3749437 times a day"), makeup bag for last-minute TV appearances and Zoom meetings, headphones, keys, and wallet.
It makes sense that AOC is a fan of the brand. In addition to being from New York, Clemens has always said that the brand is for the people, something that became even more apparent as of late following an issue with bots buying up all of Telfar's Shopping Bags. Also like the beloved congresswoman, Clemens is dedicated to ensuring that everyone has an opportunity — the brand’s Bag Security Program launch last week is proof of that. Now we just have to wait and see what other colours she secured during Wednesday’s pre-sale. Silver? Orange? Fire-engine red? Check back in 2021 to find out.
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