Celebrating the Original Six, the 6 God delivers nostalgia on ice for his latest launch with October’s Very Own.
Is it the fall? Time to revisit the past.
Drake, fresh off an arena tour and Kevin Durant-assisted album, is back in his gym bag by way of an October’s Very Own collaboration with the NHL.
Leveraging his Canadian lifestyle brand with National Hockey League licensing, the league’s Original Six teams are getting their fanfare from Aubrey Graham, Oliver El-Khatib, and Noah “40” Shebib, favoring a retro range of co-branded hoodies, tees, varsity jackets, and cuffed beanies.
Limited edition and reserved for OVO and NHL flagship locations worldwide and online, the collection is a case study in energy — and crashing the gates of new markets.
While hockey jerseys have filtered in and out of vogue in hip-hop fashion from 2Pac to A$AP Rocky, it’s uncharted ice for an artist to launch an entire apparel collaboration in conjunction with the NHL. Doubling down on Drake and his OVO brethren’s Northern roots, the heritage runs deep and makes sense, introducing perhaps a younger non-native audience to unsaturated nostalgia in elevated fashion.
The cozy OVO NHL collection pays tribute to the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, all of whom held down the league on their own for 25 years until further expansion in 1967.
Per usual, the premium pieces bear team insignias amplified by October’s Very Own branding in the form of the owl and the O.
Taking things up a notch, active Toronto Maple Leafs wing Max Domi models the collection alongside NHL icons Chris Chelios and Tie Domi. It’s an inside move considering Aubrey’s ties to Toronto and the league’s desire to exalt retired talent.
It’s also an homage to the past quite literally years in the making — over a decade ago, Drake took his talents to Ottawa, performing at the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game. In the time since, Drake’s dropped collaborations with his hometown team in T-Dot, but never a licensed league range spanning six squads.
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However, that’s not to say that Drake’s crew hasn’t been pulling their weight when it comes to co-creating with all the top teams.
For those spending time in both the sports section of the newspaper and favored fashion Tumblrs, OVO has worked with five NCAA powerhouses this fall, adding to an athletic resume featuring collaborations with the NBA, MLB, and NHL.
Releasing at OVO and NHL locations today, the launch comes on the heels of various Drake apparel pushes, ranging from For All the Dogs album merch to NOCTA x Nike footwear collaborations.
Click here to learn more about the OVO NHL Original Six collection.
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