For a third season, the NFL is partnering with local brands in the Super Bowl host city to create an exclusive line of merchandise for the biggest game in football.
With Super Bowl LVIII taking place in Las Vegas this year, the NFL has tapped Feature, Urban Necessities, and Love, Hand + Heart.
Walanya Vongsvirates, the founder of Love, Hand + Heart, said this opportunity has already changed her life.
"It's really incredible as a small business owner to be a part of this and show exactly how mighty small businesses can be," Vongsvirates said.
She started making vibrant and colorful jewelry out of polymer clay back in 2019.
"I discovered polymer clay, and I always loved fashion and art, so I started giving earring-making a try and I just completely fell in love with it," Vongsvirates said. "I get so much joy out of the art-making process. It's really therapeutic for me and it brings me such a huge smile on my face whenever I get to create with my hands."
She's been selling her handcrafted pieces at local markets — and soon, she'll be selling them on a platform larger than she could've ever imagined.
"It's still crazy to say that I hand-made earrings for the Super Bowl, but it came about, really, because of the relationships I created within this community," she said, adding that a fellow creative nominated her for the opportunity.
"I got on the NFL's radar and they really love the unique take I have on art and what I was creating, and they just asked if I wanted to be involved, and I could not say no, of course," she said.
It's a sentimental opportunity for Vongsvirates, who grew up in the southwest part of the Las Vegas valley.
"It makes it so much more special that this is happening in a city I love so much. Las Vegas is such a magical place," she said.
She's capturing that magic in the collection of earrings and keychains she's making for Super Bowl 58, inspired by our stunning Southern Nevada sunsets and the white buffalo stone mined in Tonopah. The gold features in the collection are also a nod to her Thai heritage.
"I really wanted to have Las Vegas shine through. So I used motifs that were very much inspired by Las Vegas. The two design collections I created were 'Glittering Gold' and 'Neon Desert Sky,'" Vongsvirates said.
While she has a specific set of designs for the Super Bowl 58 collection, she said each item is unique, since they're handmade. She said no two pairs of earrings or keychains are exactly alike, and that's what makes them so special.
Whether she's crafting for local markets or the Super Bowl, her creative process is largely the same, and that's the authentic feel she wanted to preserve. In fact, she's still baking all of the merchandise in her own oven at home.
"I'm used to creating small batches. I really love focusing on custom orders. So I wanted to take that feel and still use it with this collection I created for the Super Bowl," she said.
Undertaking such a big project with the backing of the NFL has given Vongsvirates a boost in confidence, proving to herself that she can rise to the occasion.
"This opportunity is 100 percent life-changing. It's already changed my life in the aspect that I just feel so capable. I just know that I can take on these big projects at a large scale and take my art to a whole new level," she said.
That feeling of gratitude and empowerment is something she hopes to pass on to the people who buy her pieces. The carefully curated packaging for her Super Bowl 58 merchandise includes a heartfelt note of thanks.
"If this is my big moment, I want people to have a lasting impression. I want them to feel empowered, more than anything, so I did have a little thank you card with a little additional message that I think is good for everyone to know anything's possible for them," she said.
She's determined to mold this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity into a lasting and meaningful boost not just for her, but for other local creatives, too.
"I think we're capable of more than we think of ourselves. The most important thing is to just try. Have the audacity to try and see where it leads you. It could lead you to somewhere magical — like the Super Bowl," she said.
If you'd like to check out the line of Super Bowl 58 merchandise created by Vongsvirates, as well as the folks at Feature and Urban Necessities, they're holding a joint pop-up launch eventon Feb. 8 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 920 South Commerce Street in Las Vegas. After that, the merchandise will be available for purchase online.
