For designer Pedro Tuma, his hometown of Coral Gables and the University of Miami, the school he grew up around, are rooted in family, tradition and legacy.
That pride and love inspired an exciting new collaboration: Friends & Family x UM.
Launched on Sept. 10, this collaboration brings together Tuma’s brand, Friends & Family and UM. Made possible by Fanatics, it centers on the theme of “Keeping the Tradition Alive.” It honors the generational pride and enduring legacy of the Miami Hurricanes.
“The Hurricanes are such a big part of the culture, and I’ve always said if there’s any team that we could collaborate with from Miami, on the top of the list would be the Miami Hurricanes,” he said.
With the opportunity of a lifetime, Tuma began bringing his dream collection to life. “The way I start a collection, specifically this one, is that I always try to come up with a theme that I could put a story to. I like building around a story and creating a world that this collection could live in,” said Tuma.
“This story is this idea that our grandparents were fans, our parents were fans, now we are also fans of the Canes, and hopefully we can continue that tradition of passing it on to our family.”
The clothing line can be found at the University of Miami’s bookstore and on the Friends & Family website. It includes 24 items, including sweatshirts, T-shirts and accessories.
This clothing line is a year in the making. Despite the success of the launch, the process wasn’t easy. At one point, it seemed almost impossible for Tuma’s vision to become reality.
“There were so many challenges that we had that would have made it really easy for us to give up,” said Tuma. “In the beginning, getting the license and the approval from Fanatics was something that was new to us, and there were a lot of requirements that Fanatics was asking from us that we didn’t have.”
Other unexpected expenses also came up that made it challenging to fund the production of the clothing.
Drawing inspiration from his collection, Tuma looked to his friends and family for help in navigating these challenges and getting the clothing line out.
“It’s not so much about focusing on what we don’t have. It’s about what we do have and how we can make that work,” he said. “We have friends; we have relationships with people. Let’s reach out and see what could happen, and we made it happen.”