About the Author
St. Croix-born Wayne James, “The ‘Bad Boy’ of Good Manners,” is no stranger to the worlds of style, diplomacy, and courtesy. In March of 1987, while in his last semester of Georgetown University’s school of law, James presented his first collection .... more
About the Author
St. Croix-born Wayne James, “The ‘Bad Boy’ of Good Manners,” is no stranger to the worlds of style, diplomacy, and courtesy. In March of 1987, while in his last semester of Georgetown University’s school of law, James presented his first collection of fashion at the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York’s SoHo. One week later, Bergdorf Goodman, arguably the world’s most discerning retailer of fashion, bought the exclusive rights to the collection. In May of that same year, James went on to earn his law degree; and within two months of graduating, his garments were being sold on New York’s famed Fifth Avenue. One year later, in 1988, James was touted by Washington Post fashion editor Nina Hyde as “one of the rising stars among young New York designers.” In 1989, in commemoration of the bi-centennial of Georgetown University, James was commissioned to design liturgical vestments for the Jesuit community, an honor which would lead to other prestigious commissions: Pope John Paul II; Queen Margrethe II of Denmark; and Diana, Princess of Wales, to list a few. In 1993, rather than following the designer tradition of introducing a fragrance, James drew instead upon his Caribbean heritage and introduced his line of Carnival Seasonings, which, in 2016, was rebranded as Wayne James’ Seasonings for Men and made available online at his website, www.ShopAtWayneJames.com . Today, the line boasts five all-natural blends: Original All-Purpose; Salt-Free; Seafood; Vegetarian; and Holiday/Game. (In 2017 James will unveil Celebration, his men’s fragrance, an intriguing, all-year cologne designed and manufactured for James in Grasse, France.) In 1999, James established the Homeward Bound Foundation, the organization that lowered the Middle Passage Monument onto the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, the 17-foot-wide, 12-foot-tall monument serving as a gravestone for the estimated millions of African people who perished en route to the New World on board slaving vessels between the 15th and 19th centuries. For his efforts with the Foundation, James was awarded the International Humanitarian Medal in Paris in 1999. In 2008, James was elected Senator of the United States Virgin Islands and served as Senate Liaison to the White House. (Wayne James is also no stranger to the world of controversy: In June of 2016, while in Modena, Italy, researching and writing volume three of the Manly Manners treatise, he was detained by Italian authorities acting on behalf of a request from the United States of America for alleged fiscal inconsistencies during his tenure as senator. James has denied all charges, and the matter is being resolved in a court of law. “Now, I have friends in high and low places,” James quipped, after finally being allowed to post bail, four months and four prisons after his arrest and being declared a “flight risk” by the American authorities). From January 2011 to November 2016, lawyer, fashion designer, historian, art collector, and author Wayne James has lived on three continents and the Caribbean Archipelago—South America, North America, Europe, and the Virgin Islands—devoting his full attention to the writing of the Manly Manners three-volume treatise: Manly Manners: Lifestyle & Modern Etiquette for the Young Man of the 21st Century [Volume I]; Manly Manners: The Cultivation of the Inner, Spiritual Gentleman [Volume II]; and Manly Manners: The Masculine Luxuries [Volume III].