Rich Mnisi is well aware of his worth. The social media upheaval tangled to the designer's price tags, reminded me of a story about an old watch.
In the story, a dying father gave his son a 200-year-old watch, with a lesson to match.
The father told his son to go to the jeweller and see how much they would offer.
And so he went. Upon his return, he told his father that he was offered $100 because the watch was old.
“Well”, said the father. “Go to the pawn shop”.
There they offered $20 because not only was the watch old, it was cracked too.
It had a crevice on the crystal that wheezed air into the dial, much like a cold tongue behind a smile with a cracked tooth.
So his father asked him to take it to the museum. His hesitation was telling.
In silence, the son had begun to question his father's judgement. But dying wishes have a tendency of being too compelling.
If omens and superstitions about watches, and by grace, dream interpretation, are anything to go by; a broken watch indicates a right decision you will make at the wrong time.
But that is neither here nor there.
When the son returned from the museum, he told his father that the curator offered him $375 000 for the rare piece to be included in their precious antique collection.
An astounding amount for the hours and minutes put into enquiring about a second-hand watch.
A watch with all the hour, minute and second hands exposed through a crack.
His father, running out of time, heartbeat and blood circulation slowing down. The wheezing, brain and organs receiving less and less oxygen.
He responded to his son, “I wanted to show you that the right place will value you, in the right way.”
If you do not know your value, how will you not always settle for far less than you deserve?
The son is Rich Mnisi, and his collection, the watch.
He refuses to be put in a box – gifted minds do not belong there. He does not settle for someone else’s definition of his worth. He does not let anyone put a price on him. He sets his own.
His business acumen is an immovable object. I reckon him a force.
Mnisi’s standards are under the influence of cannabis. The legal kind you grow in private for personal consumption of course.
The furore around his collection's pricing was tailgated by “jewellers and pawn shop owners” – social media trolls who are not his “right place”. How would they value him the right way?
One of Mnisi's biggest fans, internationally acclaimed DJ, Black Coffee, was quick to defend the designer, saying that his pieces were worth every cent. Black Coffee is a museum.
Perhaps museums come in many forms. Not all of them are Mnisi’s “right place”.
I cannot afford his clothing, but I support that designer. He is aware of his worth.