If you want to style your form elements without using CSS, consider utilizing the placeholder attribute.
In HTML, you can set the placeholder text for a select element using the data-placeholder attribute like this:
<select id="optional" multiple="multiple" data-placeholder="Optional Users">
Alternatively, you can achieve the same result using JavaScript to initialize the MultiSelect plugin:
var optional = $("#optional").kendoMultiSelect({
autoClose: false,
placeholder:"Optional Users..."
}).data("kendoMultiSelect");
$(document).ready(function() {
var required = $("#required").kendoMultiSelect({
placeholder: "Required Users...",
dataSource: [
"Steven White",
"Nancy King",
"Nancy Davolio",
"Robert Davolio",
"Michael Leverling",
"Andrew Callahan",
"Michael Suyama",
"Anne King",
"Laura Peacock",
"Robert Fuller",
"Janet White",
"Nancy Leverling",
"Robert Buchanan",
"Margaret Buchanan",
"Andrew Fuller",
"Anne Davolio",
"Andrew Suyama",
"Nige Buchanan",
"Laura Fuller"
]
}).data("kendoMultiSelect");
var optional = $("#optional").kendoMultiSelect({
placeholder: "Optional Users..."
}).data("kendoMultiSelect");
});
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kendo.cdn.telerik.com/2017.3.1026/styles/kendo.common-material.min.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kendo.cdn.telerik.com/2017.3.1026/styles/kendo.material.min.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kendo.cdn.telerik.com/2017.3.1026/styles/kendo.material.mobile.min.css" />
<script src="https://kendo.cdn.telerik.com/2017.3.1026/js/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://kendo.cdn.telerik.com/2017.3.1026/js/kendo.all.min.js"></script>
<div class="demo-section k-content">
<h2>Invite Required</h2>
<select id="required" multiple="multiple">
</select>
<h2>Invite Attendees</h2>
<label for="optional">Optional</label>
<select id="optional" multiple="multiple">
<option>Steven White</option>
<option>Nancy King</option>
<option>Nancy Davolio</option>
<option>Robert Davolio</option>
<option>Michael Leverling</option>
<option>Andrew Callahan</option>
<option>Michael Suyama</option>
<option>Anne King</option>
<option>Laura Peacock</option>
<option>Robert Fuller</option>
<option>Janet White</option>
<option>Nancy Leverling</option>
<option>Robert Buchanan</option>
<option>Margaret Buchanan</option>
<option>Andrew Fuller</option>
<option>Anne Davolio</option>
<option>Andrew Suyama</option>
<option>Nige Buchanan</option>
<option>Laura Fuller</option>
</select>
</div>