By Way of Dallas Is Telling the City’s Story, One Collaboration at a Time

Wingstop’s House of Flavor transformed The Bomb Factory into a celebration of soccer, music, fashion and food during its opening night in Deep Ellum.

Interactive activations, live DJs, tattoos, barber services and, of course, Wingstop favorites filled the 10-day FIFA World Cup fan experience. Rounding out the evening was a performance by Harlem native FERG and a collection of exclusive House of Flavor jackets designed by Hance Taplin and his creative studio, By Way of Dallas.

For Taplin, the collaboration represented more than another apparel release. It was another opportunity to tell Dallas’ story through design.

Since launching in 2015, By Way of Dallas has grown into one of Dallas’ most recognizable creative brands. The brand has collaborated with organizations including the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and Scottish Rite for Children while using fashion and storytelling to celebrate Dallas culture. Many of its collaborations have centered on highlighting the city’s creative community rather than simply producing limited-edition merchandise.

The brand, however, didn’t start out that way.

Taplin grew up in Denver, Colorado, and planned to move to New York after college. Instead, he chose to stay in Dallas after recognizing what he believed was an opportunity to help shape the city’s creative identity.

“Quite honestly, it was kind of conceived because Dallas kind of sucked,” Taplin said. “I was on my way to New York City, but I decided to stay in Dallas because I figured if this city needs something, it needs some sort of creative brand.”

The criticism wasn’t directed at Dallas itself. Taplin believed the city lacked the creative identity that places like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami had cultivated over the years. While Dallas had become nationally recognized for its professional sports franchises and rapid growth, he felt its creative identity had yet to become part of that conversation.

“We know what New York is about. We know what Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami are about. Dallas was very unknown. So for me, branding something that people could really be proud of outside of those Dallas stereotypes was important,” Taplin said.

Rather than viewing that as a disadvantage, Taplin saw it as an opportunity for creatives.

“I really believe it was a wide-open lane. There’s a lot of things we need to work on from a cultural standpoint and from a diversity standpoint, but there’s an opportunity for creatives to come in here and build something,” Taplin said.

“I’m the type of person [that] really [likes] to make things hard for myself,” Taplin said. “Those collaborations that don’t necessarily make sense are the ones I enjoy the most.”

A collaboration with Wingstop initially fell into that category.

“Why would By Way of Dallas create a piece for a restaurant?” Taplin said. “Once I kind of learned where Wingstop was going and kind of played this idea off of flavor. I have my flavor, they have their flavors. You start digging into the culture of it, and it made so much sense.”

Instead of creating a promotional jacket, the brand designed a piece that tells Wingstop’s story through thoughtful details inspired by the company’s aviation roots.

Combining satin and denim materials with custom chenille patches, embroidery and bold graphics allowed the brand to create a one-of-a-kind jacket while incorporating elements unique to both brands. The result was a piece designed to reward closer inspection, with details that reveal themselves over time instead of all at once.

Among Taplin’s favorite details are the coordinates embroidered into the jacket’s pockets, which lead directly to Wingstop’s first restaurant in Garland.

“When this project first came to me, it kind of stuck with me because I lived in Garland for a good amount of time when I first moved to Dallas,” Taplin said. “I lived with my aunt actually, and it was right down the road from this location.”

Even the By Way of Dallas branding was intentionally understated.

“This isn’t always about us,” Taplin said. “So we wanted to make this more of a Wingstop moment and a House of Flavor moment. We want to elevate Wingstop from their own perspective.”

That philosophy reflects the brand’s broader approach to collaboration, measuring the success of a project less by the visibility of the brand itself than by how effectively it tells someone else’s story.

That collaborative mindset extends beyond fashion.

Growing up, Taplin played baseball, football and basketball. Baseball became especially meaningful because he was often the only Black player on his team, an experience that shaped his desire to challenge stereotypes.

“I like to put myself in positions where I kind of break that stereotype,” Taplin said.

That perspective has led the brand to collaborate with organizations like the Texas Rangers and now Wingstop, using fashion as a medium to tell stories and connect people to the city.

While House of Flavor will welcome thousands of guests through July 3, Taplin sees the activation as more than a celebration of the World Cup. For him, it’s another opportunity to show how fashion, sports and community can come together to tell the story of Dallas through a different lens.

“We want to build for the community. We want to work with different brands like Wingstop and shine some light,” Taplin said.

That vision has guided every By Way of Dallas collaboration. House of Flavor is no exception, as the goal extended beyond creating exclusive apparel to designing something that reflected both Wingstop’s history and By Way of Dallas’ design philosophy.

Taplin continues to pursue the vision that inspired the creation of By Way of Dallas. Whether collaborating with sports franchises, global brands or local organizations, each project is another chance to tell the city’s story and give people a reason to see Dallas beyond its preconceptions.