Local photographer, models featured in national Footlocker ad campaign

Courtesy Jacqueline Ayala.

Photographer Jacqueline Ayala was enlisted last summer by Footlocker Women to help the company create a “photo guide” of sorts, through which future marketing endeavors could be based. 

“They asked me to basically create a template, so we could pass it along to whoever they want to work with in the future, and it’d be easy for them to kind of create a consistent type of look,” Ayala says.

Having already worked with Footlocker prior to the pandemic, Ayala jumped at the opportunity to capture these images in her native Kansas City, using local models and locations for what she initially thought would be a social media campaign. 

Over the course of the summer, Ayala got a text from a friend in Las Vegas who saw one of her images being used at a Footlocker storefront in the city. Since then, her images have been featured in storefronts across New York City, Chicago, Arizona, and even as far as Guam. 

“I actually didn’t know that it was going to be in stores. At first, it was just online and social media. If they are able to use the images for promotion in stores, I’m aware of that, but I usually don’t know when or if it’s going to happen,” Ayala says. 

Footlocker offered Ayala a great deal of flexibility in how she carried out the project, essentially giving her full reign to recruit her own models.

Courtesy Jacqueline Ayala.

“They also wanted to be inclusive with it. So I took to social media and said I was looking for women of color, plus-size models. That’s usually what I focus on and what I shoot,” Ayala says. 

Ayala went on to recruit local musicians Regina Del Carmen, Bella Musselman, and Jessica Cason. Assisting her throughout the process was her sister, Jazmin Ayala, who was featured in this year’s Kansas City Fashion Week under her brand Fashion By Ayala, and Vanessa Ayala, who creates her work under the Art By Ayala moniker.

Before the pandemic, Ayala was living in New York City. She’d spent nine years living in Chicago prior to that. Since the outbreak, however, Ayala has been primarily working from her hometown once more.

“I think that this project was one of the biggest ones for me with Footlocker Women. It was really cool that I had the flexibility to bring it to Kansas City and shoot here and choose the talent. They pretty much gave me creative freedom on a lot of the photographs that I took,” Ayala says. 

Ayala has personally seen her work displayed in many top-notch retail locations, including Manhattan, and Chicago’s State Street and Wicker Park neighborhoods. However, one spot was perhaps the most exciting.

“I got to see it in the footlocker in Times Square and all the pictures of the girls were there. I think that was one of the only stores where all of the models were placed in the front window, which was really cool,” Ayala says. 

Support Ayala’s work through her website, Photo By Ayala, and follow her on Instagram.