UPDATED 4/25/21, 10:00 p.m ET: Tony Hawk shared a video on his Instagram Stories of someone showing off a catalog from the ‘90s with the message, “Not a bootleg! The hoodie is legit AF.” Tony replied, “I stand corrected. Nice detective work, but I still don’t remember making them.”
UPDATED 10:52 p.m. ET: An Instagram user has come forward claiming to have sold the purported “bootleg” hoodie to Drake; however, the user insists the piece is authentic.
The claim was made by online reseller @paul_doesnt_exist, who specializes in old-school skate gear. The post reads in part:
“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,” the caption read. “That item is clearly 100 percent 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.”
See the original story below.
Behold the power of Drake.
The OVO rapper was recently photographed wearing a pullover hoodie with the Birdhouse Skateboards logo sprawled across the chest. Though it was a great promotional shot for the brand, it turns out Drizzy’s sweatshirt wasn’t authentic. Birdhouse co-founder Tony Hawk confirmed it was a fake in an Instagram story Saturday; but rather than get pissed about the knock-off, Hawk and his team decided to capitalize off of it.
“Drake was spotted wearing a bootleg @Birdhouseskateboards hoodie,” Hawk captioned the picture of Drake rocking the piece, “so we made some ‘officially.’”
The post directed users to the “Degrassi hooded sweatshirt” on Birdhouse’s online store. The piece, which is nearly identical to Drake’s bootleg hoodie, was named after the Canadian teen drama that the rapper had starred in for seven seasons. It’s unclear where Drake copped the piece and whether he knew it was a fake.
According to the website, the hoodie was made from a cotton/polyester blend fleece and is presented in Alpine Green with the Birdhouse Toy Logo graphic on the chest. Sizes small-XL are available, with each piece costing $70. You can purchase the design here.
Hawk created Birdhouse Skateboards in the early ’90s with fellow skateboarder Per Welinder. He reflected on the brand and team’s longevity in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, around the time of Birdhouse’s 25-year anniversary.
“It’s so crazy and it’s been super fun. It’s still my passion project in so many ways, you know,” he said. “Even like when things took a down turn and we weren’t necessarily profitable every month, I’ve never thought about giving up. That was never even an option. For a long time, I kept it alive through licensing my name to more mass-market stuff. My name on boards, which we sold to mid-tier sporting goods stores, and places like Target – those royalties were allocated to Birdhouse, to pay for the team. That’s pretty much how I kept it afloat. I mean, not afloat – that’s how I was able to pay the team what I thought they deserved.”
