Source: BET Awards 2020 / Getty
A TikToker is big mad over Beyoncé’s lyric about her Hermes Birkin bags being in storage. On the track “Summer Renaissance” on her Renaissance album, she sang, “This Telfar bag imported/ Birkins, them s**** in storage.”
This is Beyoncé giving Telfar Clemens’ brand the acknowledgment it deserves as a prominent and highly successful Black-owned business. A Tik Tok user who goes by “EricasGirlyWorld” was perturbed by the boost Bey gave the Telfar brand.
In a nearly three-minute TikTok video, she said the Hermes Birkin bag is far from out of style.
“It’s such misinformation. If you look at Hermes’ financial data, the revenue in 2021 was 42% or higher than in 2020,” she said. “That is massive growth.”
She added, “Long gone is the time that celebrities were the say-all end all be all of all things.” If celebrities aren’t trendsetters, then how did the Birkin become so popular? But I digress.
“There is no absolute voice in terms of what is right or wrong for people to wear. That’s an individual decision,” she continued.”
Erica also downplayed the Telfar bag and said it isn’t luxury, is made of “pleather,” and is overall not good for the environment.
“Comparing a Telfar bag to a Birkin is like comparing a mid-range reformation dress to a Dior haute couture gown. It is not even in the same stratosphere. The consumer for Telfar is completely different than the consumer for Birkins. They are looking for completely different things in a completely different price range.”
She added that Birkin buyers are “looking at the fact that the item is going to last the lifetime. It’s going to wear well but not like pleather that’s going to crack in a few years.”
Erica concluded her video by saying, “I’m sorry, Beyoncé, but nobody that has a Birkin right now gives a s*** about what you just said.”
Well, apparently, someone was listening. After the shoutout on Renaissance, Telfar saw an 85% increase in views on the luxury resale site The RealReal, Page Six reported. Telfar’s website views also increased by 131% on the weekend of the album’s release.
Shame on her for taking time out of her day to minimize and shame a Black-owned business. The Telfar bag is luxurious to the Black community. Many Black folks like that it is made of faux leather because it’s vegan-friendly. Not everyone feels comfortable buying a bag made from animal skins and hides. Beyoncé called for us to show love to the Telfar brand, which many of us have already done.
When a Telfar bag is released, it sells out in minutes. Our eyes are always peeled for an announcement of a new color scheme. Beyoncé doesn’t need “Erica’s Girly World” to give s*** about what she said because she isn’t talking to her. She’s talking to Black women.
Watch the video below.
