NYFW Exlcusive: How Danessa Myricks Turned Hair Bias Into A Signature Style

Danessa Myricks Beauty has become a household name and a makeup-bag must-have for the beauty girlies. Whether you’re looking for foundation that matches your melanin, primer that will hold your makeup without drying out your skin, or blushes, shadows and other key products to pull off a signature look, Danessa has it.

Jackie Aina has been using the products for years, while Keke Palmer, Michelle Obama and Angela Bassett are among the stars who have worn Danessa Myricks Beauty for major glam moments. The line has also grown from pro-beauty circles to the shelves of Sephora.

Danessa launched her namesake brand in 2015 and has been changing the beauty game ever since. Her commitment to creating quality products for Black women, while genuinely wanting us to look and feel our best, has always been part of what sets her apart.

So, of course, we couldn’t wait to grab a few minutes with Danessa during New York Fashion Week. She is one of HelloBeautiful’s 2026 Women To Know: Founding Mothers of Beauty, so we know and love her story.

But one thing we don’t always give Danessa her flowers for is her hair. While her makeup helps us all feel like that girl, her crowning glory makes Danessa, as she told us herself, feel “most powerful.”

NYFW Danessa Myrics: Her Signature Locs Came From Refusing To Shrink

We spent a few minutes chatting about her locs and how she came to the sky-high, sculpted loc mohawk that has become her signature.

“You know I think I’ve tried every hairstyle known to man. You name the style, I had it,” she started when HelloBeautiful asked about her hair.

Going deeper, Danessa pointed to the microaggressions, pushback and biased perceptions she experienced in professional spaces as part of the inspiration. As millennials, people my age, would say, she made her haters her motivators.

“In my professional life I think I got to a point where I wanted to make a statement about who I am,” she continued. “In my professional journey there was always a lot of push back about my hair and it was very discouraging.”

Danessa is known to tell it like it is and turn negativity on its head. She did the same with her own style.

“Instead of shrinking into that, I wanted to dial that up,” she told HB. “I wanted to say that this is me. I can be powerful, I can be bold. This is my hair.” She continued, “I can be an amazing entrepreneur, I can still be an executive. And I am an amazing business person, too.”

Danessa continues to find identity, pride and purpose in the look.

“And there are so many women that I know who struggle with this. They are not seeing themselves in the corporate world,” she said. “So it’s so important that I rep for all of us. I want them to be able to see me, so that they can see themselves through me because our natural hair is beautiful.”

NYFW Danessa Myricks: ‘I Feel The Most Powerful In My Natural Hair’

When it comes to products, Danessa depends on her stylist, Nicola Forbes-Martin, for what she jokingly called the “juices and berries.”

When I asked what else she loves about wearing her signature style, her answer came quickly.

“I mean that’s it. I feel the most powerful in my natural hair,” she answered, looking down at her outfit. “I really feel like I am channeling the ancestors and it doesn’t matter if I am in sweats or in this beautiful Sergio Hudson gown, it works.”

And the Sergio Hudson gown wasn’t a random reference.

We caught up with Danessa in the middle of a flurry backstage at Sergio Hudson’s Spring/Summer 2027 show.

NYFW Danessa Myricks: Black Creatives Were At The Helm Backstage At Sergio Hudson

Models sat in chairs getting last-minute touches to their hair and makeup. Photographers, assistants and staff moved throughout the packed space.

More than 20 stylists filled the crowded area, studying reference looks, reaching for products and watching the clock. Everyone was focused on getting each detail right before the show.

Creator Shalom Blac and reality tv star Clarke Carray posed with models, laughed and talked. Other journalists huddled nearby, gathering content and squeezing in interviews.

But amid the chaos, there was so much beauty, especially for students of fashion and everyday fashion lovers. Seeing how much work goes into a show audiences experience in a matter of minutes is humbling.

The Black creative leadership backstage stayed with me, too.

Sergio Hudson was leading the fashion. Danessa Myricks Beauty was part of the makeup story. Camille Rose provided hair products backstage, while Sir John brought his eye-maxxing technique to life as lead makeup artist. His Spring/Summer 2027 beauty look also incorporated an unreleased Danessa Myricks palette.

Black influence continues to fight for the recognition it deserves in fashion and culture. Backstage, we could see Black creatives shaping the fashion, hair and makeup audiences would soon see on the models.

For Danessa, It All Comes Back To Storytelling

When asked about the connection between hair, makeup and fashion, Danessa Myricks smiled.

“It’s storytelling.”

She continued, “We’re just using different vehicles to tell a story. And here, backstage, we’re all using our various mediums to tell Sergio’s story.”

Her answer brought our entire conversation full circle. Her locs, her makeup, the Sergio Hudson gown and the beauty being created around us all told parts of the same story.

Danessa’s hair now says what she once felt pressured to quiet. She can be powerful. She can be bold. And she wants Black women watching to see themselves in all of it, too.