In coming up with its latest designs for children, Target went straight to the source. Its new Art Class limited-edition collection, The Class of 2017, geared toward boys and girls ages 4 to 12, was co-designed by 10 kids ages 7 to 14.

Brand scouts scoured the nation for accomplished youths. They enlisted 7-year-old Haileigh Vasquez, a model-actress with 130,000 Instagram followers; 12-year-old Cory Nieves, the CEO of Mr. Cory’s Cookies, who presented his brand on “Shark Tank”; 7-year-old Hawkeye Huey, an outdoor adventurer who was the youngest photographer to be published in National Geographic; 11-year-old Aiden Prince, a dancer with the stage name Bahboy who has performed with Missy Elliot, Pharrell and Justin Bieber; and 8-year-old Steve Roberson, a surfing prodigy from Maui.

Steve, whose dad is pro surfer Kaleo Roberson, started surfing at the age of 2. He has come to be known as the youngest big-wave surfer in the world. His contributions to The Class of 2017 collection are aqua chinos and knit shorts with colorful trim.

The boy and his mother, Tiare, were flown to Minneapolis in August to meet with Target’s design team to offer ideas and feedback on sample products for the Art Class launch.

“It was the first time I ever done it and it was super fun,” Steve said by phone from Maui. “It was fun designing the clothes and going to Minneapolis. I want to do more and hopefully I get to do it again.”

Sarah Zeman, who works on Target Kids’ apparel and accessories, said the company has a team “whose job is to observe what kids are doing.”

With 14,000 Instagram followers on an account he shared with older brothers Justin and Eric, Steve caught their eye after having also been featured in stories on ABC News, Huffington Post, Free Surf magazine and the U.K.’s Independent and Daily Mail newspapers.

Tiare Roberson said there’s often a difference between what fashion designers put out and what kids actually want to wear. “I thought it was a great idea to get the perspective of kids. … There was such a broad spectrum of kids that everyone had their own style because they came from different walks of life,” she said. “That makes the collection really unique.”

For his part, Steve said shorts on the market don’t have enough, if any, pockets, and ideally he would like five. Kids may not need to carry car keys, credit cards and phones, but he said he does need places to stash surf wax, seashells and other odds and ends.

His wants surprised his mom, who expected him to design his favorite attire: T-shirts and shorts. “But he stepped out of the box of what he usually wears to create skinny jeans to wear on special occasions,” she said. “It’s not something he gets to wear too often.”

Steve did create a pair of black knit shorts with neon-pink pocket trim, and Roberson said that if she were doing the designing, she would reverse the colors “so I can see him in the water.”

When the collection finally made it to the Maui Target store last month, Steve said all his friends turned out for the debut.

“When I saw the Art Class sign I started running. It was super fun and super exciting when I saw my clothes and saw my tag,” he said. “Target’s a good store.”

The collection debuted Jan. 22 and features everyday apparel for kids including jersey dresses, joggers, tropical-printed track jackets and tie-dye denim. New Art Class products will continue to be introduced every four to eight weeks. Most items are priced at less than $20.