You Were Never Meant to Stay Outside

Fashion Designer: Kimani Bethune-Jones

“My goal? Oh, that’s easy. I want to show the world my mind before I go.” This is the powerful statement offered by 34-year-old fashion designer Kimani Bethune-Jones when asked about the driving force behind his creative ventures. It is a statement that speaks not only to ambition, but to legacy and the desire to leave behind something that reveals the depth of one’s imagination.

Each of our lives is shaped by decisive moments, and the choices made in those moments can set a course that unfolds for decades. A ripple effect. In the book, Decisive Moments in History, author Stefan Zweig describes ‘a single moment that determines and decides everything: a single Yes, a single No, a too early or a too late makes that hour irrevocable.’ If you are a split second early or late, you miss the moment. For Kimani, those choices have become the foundation of a creative journey defined by vision, courage, and self-expression with an unwavering determination to make his ideas visible to the world.

The Fayetteville, NC-native reminisced about his journey into fashion and how it wasn’t born out of luxury or family wealth, but loss. He recalled one night during his undergraduate years at Winston-Salem State University when, following homecoming, he returned to his dorm room to discover that his entire wardrobe had been stolen. In an unexpected gesture of mercy, the thief had left behind only two pairs of shoes in their hasty escape. That moment became the unlikely catalyst for Kimani’s dive into fashion. “It’s a double-edged sword really. Yeah, it started me on my path, but I lost a lot at the same time. Looking back, it was the Kickstarter I needed to move my idea off the paper.”

Kimani described his latest creation, Manor Grandeur, as ‘building your house without using your hands or building your mind into the person you want to become.’ This symbolic interpretation and narrative are the very framework for the Manor Grandeur campaign. The philosophy behind this thought suggests that our greatest achievements are constructed internally before they ever become visible.

So, when asked how he keeps his brand rooted in personal growth rather than external validation in a culture where fashion is often driven by trends and image, Kimani’s answer comes back to timelessness and intention. “For me, it’s about paying attention to detail and studying timeless pieces, fashion from then to now. I don’t want to be so trendy that we become just that; a trend that fades away. For me, its’ about being more precise, choosing quality over quantity, and doing the best we can with the knowledge we have.” 

You may notice in Manor Grandeur’s campaign a surreal, mysterious, and portal-like red door that seems to invite you in.  That red door symbolizes a point of no return, a conscious decision to leave comfort behind and step into transformation. I asked if there was a defining moment in his life when he crossed a similar threshold? His response was nothing short of inspirational. “There was a time I was trying different things before landing in my field. After I had been there for some years, I realized that something was still missing and that my true passion was no longer in this thing.” The realization that if you truly want something, you have to dive all in and not look back. That is when he stepped through his own door and committed his life to continued growth. “Looking back at where I had come from and where I was, was all the motivation I needed to keep going.”

As for words of wisdom to young designers who are talented but discouraged by rejection, limited resources, or comparisons, Kimani leaves them this: “You can get much further if you just keep going and not allow yourself to get caught up in social medias dictating your decisions. Are you seeking help? Find a community, mentor; make the decision to want to get better and then walk through that door.”

We wrapped up our conversation with a question that caused him to rethink his own title moving forward. Many creatives stop at just one medium, but with Manor Grandeur, Jones is building a fashion line, producing music, creating films, and developing an entire universe. When asked if he saw himself as a fashion designer who explores other art forms or a storyteller who happens to use fashion as one of his languages, he responded: “Wow, when you put it like that, just wow! The whole time I’m thinking yeah, I want to get this fashion thing going, but also, I want to work on this too. So, I would have to call myself a storyteller with fashion being my first language, primary language, but I’m also exploring other things as well that ultimately connect.”  

On September 1^st, Kimani invites you to walk through that door with him and discover what Manor Grandeur has to offer. Manor Grandeur is a philosophy-driven luxury brand built around the concept of self-construction, discipline, and intentional identity. It is about becoming the person you choose to be, deliberately. Because the only way to discover your new identity is to walk through the door.

“I’m not convinced that our true date of death is the date listed on our death certificate We start dying the day we stop dreaming. We start living the day we discover a dream worth dying for.”

~Matt Batterson