Aaron Silva is the owner of The 32nd Collective, a clothing store in Osseo.
Raised in the northwest suburbs, Silva grew up by The Lookout, a local watering hole that has been a staple of Maple Grove for many years.
In high school, Silva played basketball at Osseo with Jesse Becker, a future D-I prospect, and while running the court with one of Osseo’s all-time leading scorers was memorable, it was the lessons Silva learned that he cherishes most.
“The Osseo basketball program was run really well,” Silva says, crediting his former head coach Tim Theisen for instilling discipline and character in him and his teammates.
“We were very intense, defense focused. There was no time for nonsense. We were constantly challenged by the coaching staff, which was tough, but rewarding because we won so much.”
After high school, Silva went to art school in Minneapolis.
He started in animation, drawn to the same medium that Pixar has revolutionized over the last few decades.
“That [animation] was my passion,” Silva recalls, but he eventually discovered that animation didn’t satiate his creative spirits, so he pivoted to graphic design.
After graduation, he worked a variety of jobs, installing vehicle wraps, and later working in corporate graphic design.
All throughout, he did freelance work for a variety of clients.
Then, one day, his sister married Sam Rosebear, whose family routinely attended powwows to celebrate their Native American heritage.
For Rosebear, spending time with family was great, but he lamented the fact that there wasn’t any sweet apparel that commemorated his ethnic roots.
“We do these powwows, and there is no cool native American apparel,” Silva remembers Rosebear telling him. “There is nothing that I want to buy.”
At that point, Silva’s imagination went into overdrive as he envisioned all the unique clothing designs he could produce that would pay homage to Native American culture.
Soon after, The NTVS brand was formed, and very quickly they achieved acclaim online.
Their rapid ascension could be attributed to the outstanding apparel Silva designed, of course, but strategically, Silva calculatedly opted to only release a select number of designs, and then once those designs were sold, they would literally never again be available.
This tactic created a sense of urgency among followers of the brand.
“Everything sold so fast. People were loving it,” Silva says of a clothing line that today has nearly 150,000 followers on Instagram.
“Without The NTVS brand, there would be no store today,” he then notes.
Adds Silva:
“The main reason we did well online was because of Instagram. We would generate so much hype for the drop. It’s crazy how well that works.”
For several years, Silva built The NTVS brand out of his basement with the help of friends and family, designing, packaging, and distributing the clothing.
“It got to the point of where we became too big, and so we couldn’t operate out of my house anymore,” Silva shares, so before the pandemic they leased warehouse space in Brooklyn Park to accommodate the growing demand.
Within the next few years, The NTVS remained steadfast in their expansion efforts, to the extent that the warehouse in Brooklyn Park was no longer capable of keeping up with market demand.
But Silva was a bit stuck.
Sure, he could have tried to lease an even bigger warehouse.
“But I didn’t necessarily want to pay an insane amount of money for rent,” he says.
That’s when he discovered a storefront in downtown Osseo that became available for purchase.
It was a big move, but Silva dared to be bold, shifting his entire operation back to Osseo, a homecoming for the Oriole alum that in the few years since opening has enriched the quaint city’s downtown aesthetic, and attracted significant foot traffic.
“We want the entire city to enjoy the store,” Silva says of The 32nd Collective, its name representative of the fact that Minnesota became America’s 32nd state back on May 11, 1858.
Of note: The NTVS brand has a section in The 32nd Collective, but the store itself is more centered around also offering apparel that appeals to Osseo residences and Minnesotans alike.
“The goal is to have clothing and apparel that people can relate to, and also take a lot of pride in as Minnesotans or residents of Osseo.”
Looking ahead, Silva will undoubtedly continue to innovate and drop more designs that will further cement his clothing brand as a must-wear.
He also has been making inroads on the gift side of the business.
“A lot of our stuff is nostalgic, and people really like coming into the store to look for gift ideas,” he says.
“I love the area that we grew up in as kids, and so having a lot of clothing that pays homage to that time period is fun, especially when they put a smile on someone’s face or invoke a favorite memory of theirs.”
It’s possible that one day Silva and The NTVS will be a household name for clothing brands, but that’s for the future to decide, and for his part, Silva is not overly concerned with building the next Nike or Adidas.
“I have no desire to keep opening up any more of these stores,” he emphasizes.
“I really want to focus on making this store great.” QS
**
Tired of that annoying tree stump that’s lingering in your front yard?
You know, the remnants of that massive oak that all your neighbors point and snicker at?
Well, thanks to Chris Mehrkens and ByeBye Stumps, you can remove that unsightly tree stump AND enhance the curb appeal of your home.
If your lawn is littered with stumps, don’t wait another minute to get this done.
Call ByeBye Stumps today at (763) 258-7200!
And mention my name when you call to get $100 off your project.
That’s 763-258-7200.
ByeBye, stump!
quentinsuper.com 
Leave a comment