Beyoncé sparks sales boost for vegan handbag range

BEYONCÉ has sparked a million-dollar sales boost for a vegan handbag range by calling Birkins “s***s in storage”.

The 40-year-old singer says on her new track Summer Renaissance – the final song on her first major album in six years – how she appears to have turned her back on the high-end Hermés accessory.

She tells fans: “This Telfar bag imported ... Birkins? Them s***s in storage.”

Sales of Telfars, which carry a signature T logo and were started by designer Telfar Clemens while he was still at university in 2005, have since soared. The Telfar website lists all of its already popular shopping bags, which sell from $150 (about R2 400) to $257, depending on size, as sold out or yet to be released.

The colourful faux-leather bags were inspired by Bloomingdales’ classic shopping bags and have a huge following on TikTok, with Oprah Winfrey and Bella Hadid among their famous fans.

The second-hand market for the bags is also booming.

Vogue Business reported that searches for Telfar on US resale site The RealReal leapt by 85% on the day Renaissance was released. The album debuted last month in the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.