After a day of chaos in the fashion and skate world, it appears Drake’s $350 USD vintage alpine-green Birdhouse hoodie is legit. The '90s-born hoodie became the topic of conversation after the Canadian rapper was photographed in the rare piece of clothing, to the point where Birdhouse Skateboards founder and skate icon Tony Hawk actually called it out for being fake.
The original seller, @paul_doesnt_exist, released a statement on Instagram after Hawk's claim, and showed proof confirming the hoodie to be an original from the Birdhouse collection in the early to mid ’90s. He admitted that it’s understandable that some would think the item was a dupe considering the fact that he had to replace the hoodie’s drawstring.
He also confirmed that Drake paid him a large amount of money for “clothes he no longer wanted,” and shamed people for spreading false information. "I’m just confused why Tony Hawk posted on his story saying it’s bootleg. It’s totally not a fake hoodie, look at the tag. That item is clearly 100% authentic. I don’t understand why individuals love to spread false information. Maybe people think it’s “bootleg” because it has a replacement drawstring?," he wrote in his IG caption.
In response to this whole debacle, Hawk decided to offer up a troll. The hoodie was renamed the "Degrassi Hooded Sweatshirt," and is once again available for purchase on the Birdhouse Skateboards website (well, it's actually already sold out), referencing Drake’s breakout role as Jimmy Brooks in the teen drama Degrassi.
Drake has yet to comment on the drama surrounding the old sweater, but has been busy hanging around some of the UK's finest including Giggs, Dave Santan, Not3s, and Damson Idris seemingly campaigning for his upcoming album Certified Loverboy.
Read @paul_doesnt_exists’s full statement below:
"Some time last month I checked my phone and saw some guy in a very wealthy part of California cashed me the fuck out on some of my XL skate gear. I knew something was up when I saw it was all being sent to Beverly Hills. I was informed yesterday that the artist “Drake” was seen wearing one of my hoodies. I honestly didn’t even know who he was, I had to look him up (just kidding) but thank you for giving me a lot of money drake If you’re reading this I’m happy to do more business in the future. I know the hoodie is mine because I remember putting that blue shoe string in years ago. The string came from a golf wang converse shoe. I’m just confused why Tony Hawk posted on his story saying it’s bootleg. It’s totally not a fake hoodie, look at the tag. That item is clearly 100% authentic. I don’t understand why individuals love to spread false information. Maybe people think it’s “bootleg” because it has a replacement drawstring? The hoodie was missing the original string when I secured it many years ago so I just threw a random one in there. All I know is drake paid me well for my clothing and I used his money to secure at least a hundred more fat grails. Life is so weird dude I never really respected this guy or his music but this still has my mind blown. I used to wear brands like diamond supply co 10 years ago and I thought I was so cool. Now drake is swooping up my old clothes that I didn’t even want anymore."