TEMPE, Arizona — Inspired by vibrant orange-and-purple Arizona sunsets and local Native American tribes, four local brands were able to put their work on display at an NFL retail pop-up shop providing a once-in-a-lifetime platform.

The NFL reached out to local artist Ashley Macias, Elias Jade with Elias Jade Not Afraid, Jeremy Davis with Manor and Jared Yazzie with OXDX to collaborate on a line of clothing and art featuring unique Arizona designs.

Last Wednesday at the Showcase Room in Tempe, the pop-up shop featured each brand and artist’s limited edition Super Bowl 57 products on display for fans in attendance to purchase.

The unique opportunity gave the local creatives a chance to showcase their work and provide a voice for the Phoenix community.

“The pop-up shop highlights a lot of diversity here in the community,” Macias said. “In a lot of ways we are not just here to share our art with the public, NFL, and people who would not have seen us otherwise but to use this platform to shed light on such a wonderful community.”

Macias used the opportunity to make four personalized prints that capture the events of the Super Bowl.

The NFL first reached out to the local artists about participating in this event, which to Jared Yazzie and Allie Stone of OXDX fashion, came as a shock.

“I couldn’t believe it at first, we looked at the email a few times, and I had it on my screen for a bit in shock,” Yazzie said. “I called Allie over to reconfirm because it is a big deal, especially for the Super Bowl, which is one of the biggest events, we were excited right away.”

It did not take long for ideas of designs to get thrown around before settling on a final logo that showcased the Navajo side of Arizona.

Yazzie and Stone described working with the NFL as a learning curve since they had never partnered with an entity of the league’s magnitude. Now they have the experience under their belt for the next big project, a collection with Heard Museum.

The third local brand is owned by Elias Jade, a bead artist that began Elias Jade Not Afraid in 2016. Growing up on the Navajo reservation in Whitecone, he uses his roots from the Apsaalooke Nation (Crow Tribe) as inspiration.

“I found some ledger paper from Arizona in the early 1900s and decided to do a geometric design of a football and encased that around a sunburst in the center,” said Jade.

Now being able to see his hard work come to fruition, it was time for Jade to relax.

“It’s hitting me more now than it did when I found out I was going to be a part of this because I’m a person that has to see it to believe it,” Jade said. “Now that it is here in front of me all I can say is holy moly because it is a lot to take in.”

One of the more vibrant collections on display from Manor showcases the desert sunset colors with bright orange and purple illuminating the display. Jeremy Davis founded the company in 2016 and operates as an independent lifestyle brand for men, women and children.

The name Manor came from the timeless aesthetic manors that can be seen down Central Avenue in Phoenix.

“For them (NFL) to think about the locals and get in touch with the local creatives is awesome because this is a platform to tell our story to a much bigger audience,” Davis stated.

The hardest part for Manor was the design process, which began in May with an additional three-month design process. Dealing with production is another problem as holidays and other variables can make a deadline hard to reach in the fashion industry.

“It is amazing to be here now and finally celebrate all the hard work in this moment,” Davis said.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

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Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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