Royals draft KC fashion designer: ‘You’ve got one chance; let’s knock it out of the park’

Whitney Manney has been called up to the big leagues, the Kansas City fashion designer shared, and she’s swinging for the fences with a hometown team collaboration.

Whitney Manney, founder of WHITNEYMANNEY; photo by Lauren Pusateri, courtesy of WHITNEYMANNEY

On Thursday’s opening day at Kauffman Stadium, the owner of the KC-based WHITNEYMANNEY label debuted a three-look streetwear collection in partnership with the Kansas City Royals. The cut and sew collection — on display in the Diamond Club at for the opening series against the Twins — included a dress and jacket, a jumpsuit, a skirt and jacket, plus accessories: embroidered hats, socks, two earring designs, a clear bag, a tote, two clutches, and a duffel bag.

Not to mention the bats, balls, and shoes she hand-painted for the photo shoot.

“My brain said, ‘You’ve got one chance; let’s knock it out of the park,’” she noted. “So that’s what I did. …‘Y’all are the institution within the city, like, how far are you willing to let me go? Let’s get really creative here.’”

Manney — who also collaborated with Monica Beverly Hillz for her entrance look for Season 8 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” — said she was inspired by the history and vintage imagery of the Royals and added her own modern flair. 

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“I really pulled a lot from like the ’70s, ’80s era of Royals,” she explained. ‘I used the original logos. I really wanted to tap into that and see how I can bring the Royals into the world of Whitney Manney.”

“My ethos at WM — in general — is I want you to be able to take these pieces and work them into your existing wardrobe,” she added.

In designing the collection, Manney continued, she wanted to “challenge the hell” out of herself and the status quo for women’s team fashion.

“When you think about women and baseball, I don’t know that any fashionable thoughts come forward,” she explained. “I wanted it to still be athletic. But I feel like with women’s fan gear it’s either they turn it pink or it’s rhinestones and I just felt like that’s already been done. All that stuff is sitting on the rack for a reason because we don’t really want it.”

“I still want the blue and the gold,” Manney added. “Give me something to go with here. I still want that sporty look in a way that really is exciting.”

The Royals marketing staff — who remembered Manney from her participation in a 2022 commercial for the team’s City Connect jerseys — pitched the idea for the streetwear collaboration to Manney at the end of January.

“They called me; I guess I’m at that point in my life,” she joked. “You don’t say no to stuff like that.”

The timeline for the project was a whirlwind, Manney said, noting she dropped everything else she was working on to focus on the collection. After their first conversation Jan. 30, she turned in her proposal for approval Feb. 9. On the 16th, she turned in her sketches, models were cast on the 20th, and sample fittings were done a couple of days later. Final sewing was started on the 26th for the photoshoot on March 12.

“It’s been cool to flex my muscles and it’s been fun to see what I’ve been able to come up with in such a quick turnaround,” she shared.

For the collection, Manney said, the Royals gave her full creative control, which means everything to an artist.

“Sometimes when you work with big brands, it’s really strict,” she explained. They’re like, ‘Here’s a long list of what you can’t do; figure out what you can do in between there.’ But they were so open. Anything that I needed, they got to me.”

Bring Out the Blue

For fans hoping to snag a piece from the collection, the Royals have released a custom fit sweepstakes, which ends April 5. Three winners will have the opportunity to select one of the three looks Manney created and join a custom fitting session with her team, according to the Royals. Each winner and four of their friends will enjoy a game from a Royals suite while Manney and her crew put together the custom fit.

Click here to enter the sweepstakes.

Manney — whose work has also been featured in “Bel-Air” — said she’s hoping this is just the beginning of her partnership with the Royals and is hoping to eventually make it into the team store.

“There’s still a lot of hoops,” she noted. “People are like, ‘OK, so when can we buy these?’ And I’m like, ‘Hold on. This is the first step.’ Even though I have the Royals behind me, there’s still the Major League Baseball organization that we’ve got to sit down and talk to.”

“Even if I have to figure out a way to get a license, I will,” she added. “If I’ve got to ask 100,000 people for $1, we’ll make it happen.”

The team behind the WHITNEYMANNEY-Kansas City Royals collaboration; photo by Lauren Pusateri, courtesy of WHITNEYMANNEY

Off the bench

Just as baseball is a team sport, Manney noted she couldn’t have done the collection without the the help of her fashion team, including assistant Cydni Stanford, sewing teammate Maret Cissner, Kate Martin with Ease Embroidery, Paulina Otero on fabric laser cutting, and the Kansas City Art Institute for the use of its Hammerspace Forge and Beals Studio for jewelry laser cutting.

“I think I have built up the reputation of when I call and say, ‘Hey, I can’t tell you what I’m doing just yet. But are you available?’ People are like, ‘Yes. Look, whatever you need. I got you,’” Manney said.

She also tipped to her cap to those involved in the photo shoot, including photographer Lauren Pusateri; creative producer Grace Pritchett; Gabrielle Lawton, Sanay Alexander, Carmen Alexander, and Kaye’s Braiding for hair and makeup; and models Raye Secka, Angel Z Duong, and Jordan Wilson.

“It’s like 12 women that I hired and was able to pay properly, which is huge,” Manney continued. “That feels amazing. The Royals made sure I was taken care of and I can take care of these people, as well. So that is huge as a business woman. It felt good to be able to write those checks.”