5 local designers prepare for the annual Juneteenth Fashion Show

For Black Americans, Juneteenth is an important holiday, commemorating the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in Galveston received word of the Emancipation Proclamation, which had freed them. Many are looking for ways to celebrate Juneteenth, and Leah Frazier, CEO of Think Three Media and creator of the annual Juneteenth Fashion Show, is bringing the event back to the Lexus Box Garden on Friday.

This year’s theme, “Ubuntu: Together, We Are – Together, We Rise,” commemorates the history of African Americans and the broader African diaspora, where culture, story and style come together as one expression of Black pride, unity and creativity. The lineup for this year features regional designers who use apparel to tell stories. Here are five to keep a close eye on.

Crossed Hats by Mahiri Takai

Mahiri Takai is no stranger to the spotlight. The Dallas native and fashion industry veteran was a featured contestant on NBC’s “On Brand with Jimmy Fallon,” and he’s the founder of Men’s Fashion Week Dallas. For the designer, having his custom pieces featured on this particular runway felt different from any other show he’s done.

“I feel honored, one, to be able to come home, come back home to Dallas and be a part of something that doesn’t just speak to a moment in fashion, but speaks to a moment in history,” he says.

Crossed Hats actually started as a fix for a problem he encountered while appearing on “On Brand with Jimmy Fallon.”

“I was like, ‘I need to change my hat every day,'” he says. “I can’t shape up, I can’t get a haircut, I’m going thin in the middle, [and] I don’t want that on camera.”

The commercially produced cowboy hats sold out.

Tangwa by Dacyn Mofor

At 14, Dacyn Mofor is the youngest designer on this year’s runway. He’s also carrying a name that already means something in Dallas fashion circles. His father, Daniel Mofor, founded luxury menswear label Don Morphy.

“It feels good because ever since I was young, I looked at my dad and I thought he was the best at what he does,” Dacyn says. “Him saying that I’m soon to be better than him, it’s more motivating and just makes me want to work harder.”

His brand, Tangwa, carries his grandfather’s name and its Cameroonian meaning: father of the people.

For this collection, called the “Basic Man Collection,” Dacyn is presenting five suits he believes every man should own.

“You could just wear the timeless and essential suits that you need,” he said. “I also want them to know that my suits are good quality and affordable, so your budget isn’t really an issue.”

Annia Louisa by Annia Jenkins

Annia Jenkins didn’t come into fashion through design school. Her path into the industry began with her late mother, Cynthia, and a luxury travel and concierge business they ran together called All Things Beautiful.

“We were dressing so many women for their travel experiences that we said, ‘Why not put them in things that are inspired by us, by our mother-daughter relationship, our love for travel,” Jenkins says. Three days before launching the line, Cynthia died following surgery complications for a routine procedure. She never saw the brand come to life.

“It means the world to me because now this brand is legacy,” Jenkins says. “This brand is more than just luxury. It’s a story, a journey.”

The brand is sold internationally through Wolf & Badger in the United Kingdom, in boutique hotels and resorts, and to collectors in the UAE, and parts of Africa. This year, she’s debuting a new collection at the Juneteenth fashion show called Kyoto, inspired by Japan. .”

Jenkins has spent the last several years investing in her business education alongside her design work, and in 2025, she was named Swimwear Designer of the Year by the Texas Fashion Industry.

“These opportunities create something I call rooted,” she says. “When the wind blows, I don’t expect to blow over.”

DY Work by Loren and Tahnia McDaniel

Loren McDaniel co-founded DY Work, a T-shirt brand, with her sister, Tahnia McDaniel, who doubles as the creative director for the Juneteenth Fashion Show. Loren doesn’t call “Do Your Work” a clothing brand but rather a “movement.”

“We’re using clothing as a vehicle to spread the message about mental health and personal growth, and using culture, your apparel, to spread the word,” she says.

The brand was born out of a hard year. In 2020, Loren’s job and relationships were falling apart. A call with her aunt led to three words that stuck with her: Do your work. During that time, she started therapy, went back to church and began journaling. She started pulling quotes directly from her own journal and putting them on a shirt. At events where she was originally selling wall affirmations, people noticed the shirt she was wearing. DY Work recently landed its first retail placement at Mosaic Makers in Bishop Arts.

Loren sees a gap the brand is filling, particularly for marginalized communities. 

“Access to affordable care isn’t always available to us,” she says. “How do we keep the message of mental health and personal wellbeing front and center, especially when access to those types of things isn’t always as available as it is to other communities?”

The Tin Woman D. Hardin Designs

Jewelry designer Deidre Hardin’s grandmother eventually went from sharecropping to running her own beauty shop.

“To see what was possible, the resilience of us, that being told no so many times but never giving up, how we can make something out of nothing and it be celebrated,” she says. “We know what our value is without being told and without apology.”

That same resilient instinct and the ability to make something of nothing run through her work. Hardin was diagnosed with lupus in 2002, and a church member gave her a small copper bracelet to help with her symptoms, a popular remedy in alternative medicine practices. But Hardin wanted something bigger, so she started making her own pieces.

“If you can’t see it, then you make it for yourself,” she says.

In 2012, after years of lupus complications, Hardin was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. In 2013, she received a heart transplant. It was during the wait for that transplant that her jewelry-making took off in earnest. 

“I need to leave a legacy. I need to say I was here,” she said. “I pulled in my ancestral background, everything we’ve done and how we got over in those storms. My jewelry kind of is a lift from that.”

Hardin works exclusively in solid copper, using a cold-forging technique to pound the metal by hand rather than heat it. During periods of extended medical issues, she created a series called “Armor of God”, with six body armor pieces that serve as a record of her own healing.

For this show, she is unveiling a new collection that’s heavily Afrocentric, including a large crown, elaborate chest pieces, wire waist pieces, armbands and an expanded line of headwear.

“Regardless of all the chaos you go through, when you layer it, it’s beauty,” she said. “It’s the beauty of who we are.”

The runway is at Lexus Box Garden at Legacy Hall (7800 Windrose Ave., Plano) on June 19 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online.