Hialeah fashion in spotlight thanks to NBA Finals

South Florida native created Hialeah brand to change perception of the city

HIALEAH, Fla. – The name is everywhere. It's in hats and t-shirts. And social media has helped propel Hialeah to a national spotlight. 

"I'm from Hialeah," said Derick G, the creator of the brand who was spotted wearing the Hialeah logo in a picture with Lebron James. 

The picture shot at the Tuesday's NBA Finals game has gone viral. 

Derick, who prefers to only be called Derick G., has been photographing James since his final days with the Miami Heat. 

"They're obviously taking pictures of him," he said of James. "I'm with him every step of the way, you know, before and after the game so it just happened be in the line of sight of the camera guy. And it just went viral," he said of the picture. 

Addressing the reason why he came up with the brand, he said, "I felt like I needed something for my city to represent my city."

Derick, 31, wanted to change perceptions and stereotypes of Hialeah, the city where he grew up and loves. 

"Our Spanish culture is very important to us. It doesn't matter what nation you're from," he said.  

Part of his mission is stop spread that culture by selling t-shirts, sweat shirts and hats. By doing so, he's making people aware of the Hialeah he knows. 

"Me with a couple of friends and a couple people at the city...we're working out hardest to kind of give Hialeah a new life, still keep it's culture...still keep what it stands for," he said. 

One way they're doing that is by highlighting the brand new Leah Arts District, an area for artists to work and live -- like Wynwood, but in Hialeah.

The Hialeah name and log initially got some attention when rapper Jay-Z was seen wearing the logo on his shirt. 

It turns out the picture was hoax created by one of Derick's social media fans. 

"I thank him for doing it. I didn't know the guy and he did it on his own. But it definitely did help it," Derick said. 

Earlier this week, there was a picture of electronic music start Skrillex wearing the hat with the Hialeah logo. 

The picture, which was posted on Facebook, already has more than 150,000 likes and close to 2,000 shares. 

"It was kind of dope. I mean I guess they understand where I'm coming from, what we stand for or what not," Derick said. 

Derick is currently in Cleveland photographing James and told Local 10, while both don't really talk about basketball they do talk about cars, shoes and fashion. 

And maybe Hialeah.

"Funny enough, yesterday since I was wearing the hat at the game, his wife was like...'Hey what's up Hialeah?'" Derick said.