His family moved back to Liberia for a short period of time, but then to avoid the Second Liberian Civil War, relocated to Gaithersburg, Maryland.
[1] In 2005, Clemens was an accounting student at Pace University and a DJ, where he would go downtown at Century 21 to go shopping in women's European brands such as: Yves Saint-Laurent, Maison Margiela and Hemut Lang.
[8] In September 2016, Clemens and Radboy worked together on an installation at the Berlin Biennale, accompanied by a video rendered by artists Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch.
[11] In October, 2017, Clemens released a special capsule collection in collaboration with White Castle that year, with all proceeds from the partnership went to bail funds for teenagers imprisoned on Rikers Island.
[15] The fashion show, co-hosted by playwright Jeremy O. Harris, featured performances by musicians Ho99o9, Na-Kel Smith, Oyinda, Butch Dawson, and the designer Clemens himself.
In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named Telfar among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.
"[28] Clemens counts Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto as influences,[29] along with "life style" brands such as Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Polo Ralph Lauren.
[9] The bag is also promoted by other notable figures such as Real Housewives of New York City star Sonja Morgan,[37] Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,[38][39][40] Swae Lee,[41] Ashton Sanders,[42] and Dua Lipa.