East Coast entrepreneurship and Southern showmanship were wed in Atlanta Tuesday at a ceremony hosted by a former star of NBC’s “
The Apprentice”.
Kwame Jackson (left), who finished second to Bill Rancic in the original season o Donald Trump’s reality show, staged a flashy debut of his upscale new brand
Krimson by Kwame at an ultra-modern Buckhead mansion that was rented for the occasion.
Every square foot of custom marble floor space was crammed: the “dandy” quotient ran so high among the invited men that the scene resembled auditions with “
The Donald”; and the women were dressed their dainty best.
“I had faith in Atlanta that we’d draw a crowd like this,” Jackson gushed. “So far, it’s been one of my most supportive markets.
“Nights like this convince me that I can one day do what
Ralph Lauren did: take one 4-inch wide silk tie design that no one but Bloomingdales would sell, and turn it into an international brand.”
Kwame’s fine neckties (a mostly conservative assortment of stripes, solids, checks and paisleys in muted tones) were selling briskly at the party ($70 each, 2 for $150), with partial proceeds benefitting breast cancer research and the
100 Black Men of Atlanta’s charities.
Currently, the ties are sold through
Macy’s and
Belk stores, as well as the krimsonbykwame web site.
Among the quickest to buy ties Tuesday night was
Justin Gatlin, the Olympic sprinter who was stripped of his 100 meters world record (9.77 seconds) in 2006 following a USA Track investigation into steroids.
“I moved to Atlanta to train, rebuild my reputation and prove how hungry I am to race again,” said Gatlin (right, with rising R&B singer Jerika Richardson). “As an athlete, I spend most of my life in workout gear. But when it’s time to dress up, I want every piece to look right.”
Local menswear designer
Cedric King (below, left), of the Dap-Rugget shop, said he admired the Krimson ties’ craftmanship, but noted something lacking.
“They’re too ‘clean’; they need that punch to make them stand out more.”
On this night, the men making the most effort to punch up their looks were the ones wearing jaunty bowties. One extra large (and imposing) gent went so far as to tie a standard Krimson necktie into a perfectly knotted bow. Another, with his blue-and-gold bowtie loosened quipped: “Years ago, bow ties like mine were the norm. You know what they say about style: every good look comes back again.”
For a full view of the Krimson by Kwame event: view the photo gallery at
JimiFlixx.com
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