PHOENIX — A clothing brand rooted in Phoenix is being showcased by Target during Black History Month.
Legendary Rootz is a passion project of Valley native Raven Gibson that quickly became a national brand.
“I was going to ASU. I wanted clothes to wear around campus that were kind of comfy and kind of related to me," Gibson said.
Gibson went on to create an apparel and home décor brand designed to empower, liberate and uplift Black women.
“Often times those little messages that I hear throughout the day, throughout the week, when I need that little encouraging push, I like want to share that with other people because I believe if it helps me, I believe it’s going to help you," Gibson said.
Gibson started selling her designs online in 2014 to friends and family, but soon enough her designs took off and so did her sales.
“When people were sharing on social media and tagging me saying they’re in New York, Atlanta and Chicago, I’m like huh, I was just doing this for me," Gibson said.
Legendary Rootz eventually caught the attention of a major national retailer.
“I was scrolling my phone and I see an email that’s like Target and I’m like huh? I’m like what is this and I’m like no that’s spam," Gibson said.
That email turned out to be real.
Target is including Legendary Rootz in its Celebrate Black History Month collection. Gibson designed jewelry, shirts, mugs and tumblers to be exclusively sold in stores.
“Just to really see like I created this on my laptop and now it’s in an actual physical store, so it’s really cool to see everything come together," Gibson said.
Gibson told 12News she draws on what inspires her and hopes she inspires others with her designs.
“One thing I really loved about this collaboration was they really championed me showing up through my brand authentically, they were like we want you, we want your brand, we want what you stand for," Gibson said.
Legendary Rootz only has plans to grow: Gibson said she's in talks to collaborate with more retailers.
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