Budding Designer
Growing up in Chicago, Jameel drew everything from realistic drawings, to Japanese manga comics and graffiti.
“As a kid, I would just draw women and design different outfits for them. I guess I’ve been designing my whole life.”
“I’ve never been so committed to dance as I’ve been at Exeter … the thing that struck me when I got here was the innovative nature of the work.”
Fashion Immersion
Internships at Nicole Miller and Narciso Rodriguez provided insider access, and Jameel designed garments that went into production.
The internships “really helped clarify that there was nothing like fashion that I would work so hard for. I work harder and harder every day.”
“Modern Subversion”
For his senior project, Jameel designed and created a fashion collection, capped off by a runway show with Exonian models.
“It all started at Exeter, with being empowered to go for it.”
Penn Bound
Majors in philosophy, political science and economics, and a minor in business “inform his practice as an artist.”
New York, New York
Barneys New York Fashion Director Tomoko Ogura mentors Jameel, encouraging him to focus on jewelry.
This rope necklace designed for his senior project at Exeter, “started it all.”
KHIRY Debuts
He launches his jewelry line, KHIRY (Swahili for “extremes in fortune and health” and also his middle name), from his dorm room.
“There was a void in the culture for someone to really champion the black aesthetic as being beautiful and culturally grounded.”
Kick-started!
Crowdfunding campaign raises $25,000 in 48 hours. Paper Magazine and Man Repeller fashion blog herald KHIRY, now poised for its spring line.
In Vogue Paris
KHIRY Khartoum bracelet featured in piece on tribal-themed jewelry.
At New York Fashion Week
The spring ’17 collection is a hit. Essence magazine showcases KHIRY and Jameel in a video interview.
“To see that KHIRY has become bigger than just me, and grown into something significant to other people, has been truly humbling.”
New York Times Gift Guide
KHIRY makes the cut: ring in the shape of cattle horns shines in the 2017 holiday buying guide.
Vogue
KHIRY gets a full-page feature in the September 2018 issue (with Beyoncé on the cover).
2018 New York Times Profile
Jameel announces plans for a digital journal called Négritude, named after the movement founded by Aimé Césaire.
Forbes 30 Under 30 2021 Art & Style
Jameel joins a select group of leaders designing “the future of fashion and the arts.”