KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sporting a bow tie has been part of Jordan Williams' style for years.
"When I was in college, you know I always had a thing for style and I was always wearing bow ties," Williams said. "When I got home, I decided to actually design bow ties. When I started to design them, I would take them from neck ties and turn them into bow ties."
At age 21, he turned that passion into a business.
"I was a college dropout and I decided when I moved back home from Chicago, that I had to kind of grow with the city if you will," Williams said. "I did a fashion show and the rest was history."
His business is called Keefe Cravat.
"It's about a man who's tying together his nobility, his handsomeness, his gentleness, his lovableness," he said.
Now, six years later, he continues to create stylish bow ties.
"When people compliment you and say you look good, and when you look good, you feel good and when you feel good, you do good and to know that we are aiding in that experience," Williams said.
In his designing space, dozens of red bow ties fill the room. Williams decided to combine fashion with compassion. The red bow ties will benefit families who rely on the Ronald McDonald House.
"These ties are unique because they are going to help support families across the metropolitan area," Williams said.
From the color, down to the specific design of fabric, Williams said it's all picked with a purpose.
"This texture to me, I see this as a symbolic piece of what they've been going through so I feel like this texture and this pattern just kind of reflects this experience that they had," Williams said.
Seventy-five bow ties will be at the Ronald McDonald Red Shoe Shindig Saturday evening. Proceeds will help families stay with their sick children.
"The story behind these ties, these little details and this pattern is a reflection of what these families are experiencing," Williams said.
The Red Shoe Shindig is Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at the Ronald McDonald Longfellow House.
