Telfar Designs White Castle 100th-Birthday Staff Uniforms
White Castle is getting another fashion makeover to commemorate a century in business.
To celebrate the fast-food chain’s 100th birthday this year, the hamburger chain has tapped designer Telfar to create a new uniform collection for its 10,000 employees. The T-shirt, polo, apron, visor and durag, in light blue, royal blue or black, each feature the White Castle brand name and include references to the milestone with the words 100 years “and counting.” The durag, a first for the company, was added to the uniform options in response to requests from its employees and is believed to be the first for any restaurant, according to White Castle.
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To promote the new collection, White Castle employees were shot in Queens, N.Y., by photographer Elliott Jerome Brown Jr.
“We wanted something special for our 100th birthday that captures the authentic spirit of White Castle and, as always, Telfar came through for us,” said Jamie Richardson, a vice president at White Castle. “Telfar has taken our uniform to a new place, creating something that’s distinctive, attractive and comfortable, and something our team members will feel great in whether they’re at work or hanging out with friends and family.”
This is not the first time the designer has worked with White Castle. They two first connected in 2015 when the brand’s founder and longtime White Castle fan Telfar Clemens asked the hamburger chain to sponsor his fashion show during New York Fashion Week. The company also hosted an after-party at its Times Square restaurant. The two brands teamed up again in 2017 when Telfar designed a new uniform collection for the family-owned company.
“White Castle supported us before our success and we consider them family,” said Babak Radboy, Telfar’s creative director. “Their team would serve sliders backstage at all our shows and were basically part of our team. It’s still the only thing open after midnight in Telfar’s hood — seeing our uniforms there means something to us, and so we take it personally.”
In addition to the employee uniforms, the brand also designed a limited-edition White Castle collection, including hats, hoodies and T-shirts, that feature a mashup of the White Castle and Telfar logos that will be sold to the public. Proceeds from this sale will be donated to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Liberty and Justice Fund, which provides bail to imprisoned minors.
“This is a special friendship between a 100-year-old food business and a 15-year-old fashion house,” Richardson said. “We have genuine reverence for Telfar’s vision and originality, and more importantly, we believe working together provides us the opportunity to make the world a better place.”
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