Equity Starts at Home: A Juneteenth Message

North Carolina Farmer, Falani “Watermelon Lady” Spivey on her farm, in OAK & ACORN’s Rebelle Reserve Jumpsuit

Building the Road Ahead

When I first authored “Red, White and Indigo”  in 2020 for the CFDA, my goal was to highlight the untold legacy of Black folks' contributions to the American jean story. Indigo, America’s “blue gold,” holds deep ancestral significance within Black communities as a cultural artifact of the early textile economy. In 2021’s “Juneteenth: A Year in Review,”  I reflected on the ways the fashion industry had begun to acknowledge that legacy and explore what freedom might mean in practice, not just in marketing.

Now, in 2025, we find ourselves at another inflection point.

Juneteenth is a national holiday.

DEI initiatives have flourished, and in many cases, faded. The promises made in the summer of 2020 are now being tested.

What’s clear is that representation alone cannot serve to liberate without infrastructure.

We need ownership.

We need community accountability, not just from the industry, but from each other.

Emerging Designers at 15 Percent Pledge Gala.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen some meaningful change. More than 28 major retailers have signed onto the 15 Percent Pledge, committing billions in spending toward Black-owned brands. Showrooms like the Black in Fashion Council Discovery space have helped elevate over 75 designers, including myself, across 10 seasons.

Brands like ours have launched curated collections and limited collaborations to celebrate Juneteenth, Black History Month, and other heritage holidays. This year’s Met Gala, themed Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, presented a cultural and historical examination of Black fashion over three centuries, spotlighting Black talent in fashion, entertainment, and sports. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s fundraising event raised a record-breaking $31 million, making it the most successful fundraiser in the gala’s 77-year history.

But for many Black and Brown creators, these opportunities remain temporary and far too often transactional.

Despite these efforts, the deeper structural imbalances persist. Only about 1% of Black-owned fashion brands are consistently stocked across major retailers. Fewer than 10 of the Fortune 50 companies still publish standalone DEI reports. Many of the grants, platforms, and campaigns that surged post-2020 have been scaled back or abandoned altogether. The equity conversation, once urgent, is now often sidelined.

How Can Circularity and Regenerative Practice Inform Economic Sustainability Within Local Communities?

Five years ago, I launched OAK & ACORN ~ Only for the Rebelles with sustainability as the ethos of our brand. Sustainability means ensuring that the histories, traditions, and expertise of creative communities are celebrated and reinforced. It means guaranteeing that people are not only surviving but thriving from the work they do. Sustainability encompasses mindfulness, being in service to the community, and living in balance with nature.

While most emerging brands like OAK & ACORN have worked to incorporate sustainable practices into design through localization, upcycling, and renewable fibers, I still ask: how can we integrate circularity to forge economic sustainability?

Because the truth is, we cannot rely solely on larger corporations to engineer equity.

I suggest widening the lens beyond our industry.

North Carolina Farmer, Falani “Watermelon Lady” Spivey on her farm, in OAK & ACORN’s Rebelle Reserve Jumpsuit

I believe we can look to our local farmers, who are already pioneering regenerative practices for the benefit of future generations. We too must operate with circularity, supporting and building strong business ecosystems that reflect, nurture, and center the needs of the community and future stakeholders.

“Personal achievement alone will not sustain us.

We need to turn our milestones into movement. Our platforms into pipelines.”

That means mentoring new entrepreneurs, creating and fundraising initiatives when possible, choosing collaboration over competition, and using our creative capital to provide solutions. We can devise a circular ecosystem of shared resources, co-creating across disciplines, and seeing our individual success as a means to produce collective impact. In doing so, we reimagine equity and sustainability as shared responsibilities, not as luxuries reserved for a select group with access, capital, or visibility.

Accountability begins with self. Economic equanimity begins by planting the seeds right where we stand — in our neighborhoods, our schools, our factories, and our local collectives.

Juneteenth 2025 is not just a day of celebration. It is a blueprint of liberation and self-determination. One that reminds us that equity isn’t theoretical. It’s built together.

So as we move forward, may we hold ourselves and our industries accountable to the possibility of a freer, fairer future. A future where ownership is shared, community is centered, and the road ahead is one we pave side by side.