Las Vegas Students Design Raiders Apparel, and Voting Is Open Through Nov. 20

by Ryan Rose

What Happened at Springs Preserve

News 3 Las Vegas reported on the showcase on Nov. 7. The Raiders ran a contest that asked student designers to create original apparel inspired by both the team and Día de Muertos. On Nov. 6, the team and its partners revealed the eight finalists at Springs Preserve. The designs appeared in an immersive 3D holographic display.

That same day, Springs Preserve opened its own Día de Muertos festival, which ran Nov. 6 through 8. The preserve's event page lists the Raiders as one of the festival's sponsors. It also showed every ticket option as sold out, so a lot of people came out for this one.

Photos from News 3 give a good sense of the night. Tall digital screens showed full-length figures in the finalist looks, including a white and navy gown and a skeleton-inspired dress on a glowing purple background. Marigolds, candles and arched altar panels framed each screen, and a Raiders shield sat at the top. It looked less like a merchandise launch and more like an altar built for the team.

The voting page calls the contest the Silver & Black Collective: Día de Muertos Edition. It lists the top eight finalists by name:

Olive Spaccarelli
Hailee Moss
Adaobi Gogo
Heather Freels
Desiree DiPrete
Nathan Barnes
Mecca Vance
Francisco Applegate

News 3 says fans will select the winner by voting for a favorite. The winning designer then moves on to work with the Raiders Image team on the collection. The plan is a limited-edition run in Silver & Black, sold nationwide starting in fall 2027. That is almost a full year away, which makes sense. Taking a design from a contest entry to a product on a shelf takes time.

Some details were not available when this was written. We looked at the News 3 story, the voting page and the official rules, and here is what we could not find:

Each finalist's age or school: NOT FOUND
Titles for each design: NOT FOUND
Any cash payment or royalty for the winning designer: NOT FOUND
The date the winning design will be announced: NOT FOUND
Prices and the number of items in the collection: NOT FOUND

A person looks at a skeleton-inspired gown design on a glowing purple display under a Raiders shield at Springs Preserve

Image: News 3 Las Vegas (KSNV)

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Most of the big news about the Raiders is about wins, losses and money. This one is about local students getting a shot at something real. A design that starts with a local student could end up on people across the country. For a young designer, that is the kind of line a resume dreams about.

Our town has plenty of creative jobs that never get much attention. Think about the people who make show costumes, hotel uniforms and convention displays. A contest like this one shows students that this kind of work can lead somewhere, and that you do not have to move to New York or Los Angeles to get started.

The money side matters too. Proceeds from the collection will benefit the Raiders Foundation. The foundation says it supports military members and veterans, along with health, wellness and youth development. Its best-known fundraisers include the Silver & Black Gala, which supports mental health work, and Nevada's Raiders license plates, where part of each fee goes to the foundation. The team has also used that plate money to fund grants for Nevada nonprofits. So a piece of this collection bought in 2027 could end up helping a local cause.

The foundation also runs a gameday 50/50 raffle and a ticket donation program that gets local nonprofits' guests into home games. A clothing line tied to student work would add one more way for fans to give, and this one comes with something to wear.

For parents, this story raises a bigger question. What does it take for a creative kid to turn a talent into a career? Training costs money. If your child is thinking about college, design or otherwise, take a look at our story on the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program. FOX5 reports that enrollment runs through April 30, 2027, and that the enrollment fee dropped from $100 to $1 this year.

Then there is the culture piece. Día de Muertos is a big part of life for many Las Vegas families, and it has a real home here. Altars, marigolds and mariachi music fill Springs Preserve each fall. Seeing that tradition treated with care on a stage this large means something to the people who grew up with it. It also gives neighbors who did not grow up with it a good reason to learn more.

And here is a simple reason to pay attention. You get a say. Most decisions about what a pro team sells get made in a conference room. This time, the public gets to weigh in, and all it costs is your name and an email address.

A colorful Raiders Día de Muertos mural with a sugar skull, flowers and paper banners behind a face painting table

Image: News 3 Las Vegas (KSNV)

Background and History

Día de Muertos is much older than any football team. UNESCO describes it as a tradition practiced by Mexico's indigenous communities to honor relatives and loved ones who have died. It takes place from late October into early November. Families scatter flower petals, light candles and set out favorite foods to guide the spirits home. UNESCO says the holiday blends pre-Hispanic rites with Catholic practices brought over in the 1500s. It added the tradition to its list of the world's cultural heritage in 2008.

It helps to know what you are looking at when you view the designs. FOX5 says altars often feature photos, candles, incense, favorite foods and poems. The Nevada Independent adds pan de muerto, paper flowers and papel picado, the cut paper banners you see strung overhead. Marigolds and painted skulls show up all over the showcase photos too. These are not spooky props. Even though the dates land right after Halloween, the holiday is about remembering people with love, and that is worth keeping in mind as you judge the entries.

The tradition is alive and well here in Southern Nevada. The Nevada Independent has written about local workshops that teach people how to build altars and make paper flowers, so younger generations can carry it on. Springs Preserve is one of the biggest places to see it. FOX5 reported in July that the preserve's festival would include an altar contest with $5,000 in prize money, split across four categories: traditional, artistic, nonprofit and people's choice.

Springs Preserve sits at 333 S. Valley View Blvd., near Meadows Lane between Alta Drive and U.S. 95. It is close to the center of the valley, which makes it an easy drive for most of us.

The school in this partnership is smaller and less well known. A fashion school directory describes Trade & Fashion Academy as a Las Vegas school in the University District that offers fashion, sewing, business and creative classes in small groups. Its listed courses include Introduction To Fashion Design, Introduction To Pattern Making and Sewing 101 and 201. We did not find the academy's own website, so check with the school directly if you are thinking about signing up.

The Raiders have been part of the valley since the team moved here in 2020. The Raider Image is the team's official merchandise arm, and it has also served as UNLV's merchandise partner. We found no record of an earlier Silver & Black Collective. The words "Día de Muertos Edition" could hint at future versions, but no one has announced any.

Clothing hanging on a wooden rack, the kind of finished garments student designers work toward

What Happens Next

The dates are easy to follow. Voting opened at 9 a.m. Pacific on Nov. 6 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Friday, Nov. 20. The rules say Pacific Time controls, and the contest platform's clock is the official one, so do not wait until the last second.

There are really two things going on at once, and it helps to keep them apart:

The design vote. This is where you pick your favorite of the eight. According to News 3, the public's vote selects the winning designer.
The sweepstakes. This is a drawing for people who vote. The rules are titled the Raiders Dia De Muertos Fashion Sweepstakes. One winner gets two tickets to the Raiders game on Dec. 27, 2026, with an estimated value of $850.

On or about Nov. 21, a potential ticket winner will be picked at random from eligible entries. The rules say that person will be contacted by email within seven days and has 48 hours to respond. If they miss that window, they may be disqualified and another name can be drawn. The winner handles their own travel to Allegiant Stadium, and the team picks the seats.

Here is the calendar in one place:

Nov. 20, 11:59 p.m. Pacific: Voting and sweepstakes entry close.
On or about Nov. 21: Random drawing for the ticket prize.
Dec. 27, 2026: The Raiders game included in the ticket prize.
Fall 2027: Planned nationwide launch of the limited-edition collection.

After that, watch for the design winner to be named. Then the long stretch begins, as the student works with the Raiders Image team ahead of the planned fall 2027 launch. Plans can change between now and then, so treat that date as the target that was announced, not a promise.

Ryan's Take

A student design contest is not going to move home prices in Las Vegas, and I am not going to pretend it will. What it does show is something I wish more people knew about living here. This is a real community with real kids chasing real careers. People from out of state tend to picture the Strip. They do not picture fashion designs on a holographic display at a nature preserve, built around a holiday that means so much to so many neighbors here.

When people ask me what a place is like to live in, the price per square foot is only part of the answer. The rest is stuff like this. It is what happens on a Friday night in November, who shows up, and whether the big names in town put some of their weight behind local kids. Letting fans help pick a product is smart business, sure. It is also a nice thing to see, and I hope the winner gets the credit they earned when that collection hits the shelves.

An American football resting on the grass of a field near the yard lines

What You Can Do

If you want to vote, here is how it works:

Go to Raiders.com/silverandblackcollective. It sends you to the voting page.
Look through the eight finalist designs and pick your favorite.
Enter your first and last name and your email address.
Check the box confirming you are at least 18 and that you agree to the official rules.
Submit before 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Nov. 20.

Not sure how to choose? Take a minute with all eight before you decide. Ask yourself if you would actually wear it, or buy it for someone you love. Ask if it feels true to the holiday and not just decorated with it. Then ask if it still looks like the Raiders. A good design here has to do both jobs at once, and that is a hard thing for any designer to pull off.

A few rules are worth knowing before you click. No purchase is needed. The limit is one entry per person, and using extra email addresses can void your entries. The drawing is open to legal U.S. residents 18 and older, except people living in New York, Florida and Rhode Island. Raiders employees, contest staff and their immediate families cannot enter. The rules also describe a free way to enter the drawing by email, without using the online form.

Read what you are agreeing to. Entering gives the team and the contest company permission to share your email with sweepstakes partners, and the ticket winner's name and city can be used in promotions. The winner may also need to fill out tax forms. None of that is unusual for a sweepstakes, but it is your information, so it is worth a look at the official rules.

If you know a young person who likes to draw or sew, show them these designs. Sometimes all it takes is seeing that someone from your own town got picked. And if you want to see the Día de Muertos tradition up close next year, keep an eye on Springs Preserve's event calendar and buy early, since this year's festival sold out.

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime.

Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | 702-747-5921 | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com