Sixty-four Inches of Style: Third Annual Petite Show Claims Global Exclusivity

The Jessie Ball duPont Center is full tonight for Sixty-four Inches of Style the Third Annual Petite Fashion Show, with two runway walks featuring petite models, a gourmet grazing table and the Go Tuk’n, Inc. cashless credit-only bar stacked against racks from local boutiques. Style by Manisha founder Manisha Joshi ran social posts promising “the ONLY petite fashion show globally,” and the room smells like coffee and fashion week energy — Jacksonville finally has a small-stature runway that feels built for fits, not edits. I’ll argue this is the best thing the city has seen for petite dressing — fight me.

Manisha built this series from a personal place: her daughter Saloni Joshi, standing at 5 feet tall, was told “You’re too short. You’re not tall enough. You’re only 5 feet tall.” That line, printed on the event page, is the exact spark for an event whose copy urges attendees to “Enjoy mingling with your friends while supporting fashion inclusivity, challenging the stereotype that modeling is for the taller crowd.” The organizer’s stated goal is blunt: “Height should never be a deterrent your success.”

The keynote tonight is Giselle Carson, billed by the program as “the acclaimed Corporate Immigration Attorney, Author and Multi-time Marathoner.” Event copy and a Facebook announcement note she was born in Cuba, sought asylum in Canada and eventually made the United States home; she is fluent in Spanish, French and English and listed at 5’0”. Carson’s public remarks reproduced in event material include, “That I’m petite often surprises people, especially when I walk into a room with big energy... Being petite has taught me how to take up space with presence, confidence, and intention, not size.” Her Facebook quote adds, “In every chapter of my life, I’ve learned to push beyond comfort: rebuilding my life as an immigrant, building a practice that serves thousands, running marathons across the world and more.”

Vendors and runway participants underline the local-business focus. Felicia Wright of Mygani LLC returns for a second time, and her Instagram copy describes Mygani as “a lifestyle brand dedicated to empowering and uplifting Black women through unique and affordable luxury accessories.” Wright is a Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business alumna, and the show’s Instagram tags include local names and photo credit to Khalifa Dieye on promotional imagery that also tags @whbm, @themash101 and @inspectorpardee. Meetup cross-posting shows Women Writing for (a) Change board member Olivia joining others on the runway, with the Meetup host listed as Jennifer W.

Practical notes live in the event text: the show is listed for Saturday, February 21, 2026, with AllEvents giving a 6:00 PM EST start and Meetup listing a 6:00–8:00 PM window. The venue appears in sources as the Jessie Ball duPont Center with two addresses shown — 122 N Ocean St and 40 East Adams Street — and model registration and vendor interest are both marked CLOSED on the Style by Manisha page. Tickets are available through Style by Manisha’s website and the social feed shows modest engagement on the keynote announcement post, logged at 15 reactions and 2 comments.

This is the third edition of a series that named Melanie Patz, President and CEO of United Way of Northeast Florida, as a 2024 speaker and Ari Jolly of Florida Blue as the 2025 speaker, and tonight’s run feels like a deliberate move from proof of concept to sustained platform. With marquee programming — runway, shopping with local boutiques, a keynote who literally wrote about taking up space, and a cashless bar to boot — Sixty-four Inches of Style wants more than representation; it wants measurable change in who gets handed a mic and a front row.