Friends and family often refer to Devin Allen as a rose growing out of the concrete — a symbol of when the click of a camera catapulted the West Baltimorean to success. A decade after his photographs of the Freddie Gray protests and subsequent uprising brought national attention to the cause, Allen is using that metaphor as inspiration for his third collection of athletic wear with Under Armour, aptly titled “Rose.”

The basketball-focused collection, which includes tanks, jerseys, shorts and T-shirts, showcases eight unique designs that highlight the grit and resilience of Allen’s hometown.

Each item in the collection features a rose in some way, whether embedded in the Under Armour logo or wrapped around the number 96 — the year of Under Armour’s inception — on pinnie-style basketball jerseys. The roses represent both the brand and the creative minds behind the collection: Company CEO and founder Kevin Plank sold roses in college and used that seed money to kickstart Under Armour.

Allen, 37, has worked with Under Armour for nine years, first as a freelancer and now on staff. His first collection in 2021, “UNDR ARMR x DVNLLN,” was meant to focus on him for Black History Month, but Allen didn’t want the spotlight. He quickly transformed the idea into a partnership with Wide Angle Youth Media and other arts organizations to donate 30 Canon cameras to kids in Baltimore.

“The goal was to highlight Baltimore’s youth, but also the coaches and mentors of the community,” Allen said. After that success, Allen recalls the Under Armour team saying, “We have to do it again.”

And he did. In his second collection, released last year, “From Baltimore, For Baltimore,” Allen put the city front and center, using his own photographs of Baltimore for the design.

This time, he’s tackling the area’s basketball scene, which launched future professional stars such as Muggsy Bogues, Reggie “Truck” Lewis and Sam Cassell. “That mentality of growing up here — it shows up on the basketball court,” Allen said.

His collection is not just about paying homage to NBA elites, though — it’s also about the youth who find community in organized sports.

“Rose” carries on Allen’s intention to uplift local athletes. The clothing line is modeled in photos by Team Thrill, an Amateur Athletic Union team in the Under Armour Athletics circuit. Sponsored by Will Barton and Indiana Pacers forward Jarace Walker, the team clinched more than $18 million in scholarships and has trained 62 Division 1 collegiate athletes since 2019, according to their Instagram account.

“I want to allow this vehicle to shed light on other creatives, other people, that I think are deserving of the space, too,” Allen said.

Allen remains committed to the city, from partnering with local videographers to hosting pop-ups. With time, he hopes to completely take his name off his Under Armour collaborations and act “like a bridge, or a conduit of sorts” for other local artists to have their work showcased.

At Under Armour, Allen works closely with Marcus Cheatham, current director of collaborations. Cheatham, 33, is himself a Baltimore native and former college athlete who has been with Under Armour since graduating. The two bonded through pandemic bike rides around the city.

“We go back and forth,” Cheatham joked about their creative process, “but there’s a lot of love that goes into it, which shows when people get to engage with the product.”

Sometimes the pair builds out an entire collection in just three weeks, sometimes three months. In Allen’s words, “We strike fast, we move quick.”

The “Rose” collection, which drops June 26, will be available exclusively at the Under Armour Brand House locations in Baltimore Peninsula and Harbor East. Allen hopes kids across Baltimore will feel inspired by the storytelling that crafted it.

“All I have is a high school diploma. I taught myself photography through YouTube and Gordon Parks’s books,” Allen said.

People doubted him at every step of his career, but he has a different message for the youth of Baltimore: “The sky’s the limit. You are the rose.”