Before the Grammy Awards, before the beef with Kendrick Lamar, before the tours that sold out stadiums on three continents, Aubrey Drake Graham was Jimmy Brooks. He was a high school basketball player at Degrassi Community School in Toronto, navigating teenage life on Canadian television from 2001 to 2009. The OVO x Degrassi collection, dropping September 25, 2026, is the most direct tribute Drake has ever paid to the chapter of his life that preceded everything else, arriving weeks before the 25th anniversary of “Degrassi: The Next Generation” in October.
The role shaped Drake in ways he has spoken about publicly ever since. “Man, what a wild journey that started,” Drake said in the 2025 documentary “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes.” “One day, my mom called me and told me, ‘You got the role.’ And I just grabbed my bag and left.” Long before OVO became a global brand, Jimmy Brooks was the character that introduced Drake to millions of viewers and gave Toronto one of its most recognizable fictional teenagers.
The collection was developed in partnership with WildBrain, the studio that holds the Degrassi franchise and produces it entirely in Canada, keeping both brands firmly rooted in the city that made them. Drake reunited his former co-stars to model the pieces, with Andrea Lewis, Miriam McDonald, Melissa McIntyre, Shane Kippel, Daniel Clark, Mike Lobel, and Christina Schmidt all appearing in campaign imagery. McDonald posted on Instagram with the caption “Degrassi, but make it OVO.” For anyone who watched the show during its peak years, the campaign is its own kind of reunion before the clothes are even discussed.
A Collaboration Rooted in Toronto
The collection is anchored by the fleece varsity jacket, finished with layered twill patchwork, retro graphics, and OVO x Degrassi co-branding. It is the kind of piece that earns its place in both streetwear and fan contexts without needing to choose between them.
The centerpiece for longtime viewers is the archival recreation of Jimmy Brooks’ basketball jersey, faithfully reproduced from the version that appeared in the show’s early 2000s episodes. The number 86 on the cotton Panthers football jersey is a quieter detail that carries significant weight for those who know it: 86 is Drake’s birth year, embroidered into a Degrassi Panthers uniform as a piece of personal history dressed up as school spirit.
The wider collection includes a premium fleece sweatsuit, a vintage-style heritage crewneck, gym wear staples modeled on classic physical education uniforms, a multi-print tote bag, and a structured sport cap. The blue-and-gold Panthers color scheme runs throughout, giving the collection a coherence that keeps it from reading as a disconnected fan merchandise drop. These are clothes built around a visual identity, and that identity holds.
Drake’s Longstanding Degrassi Connection
Drake has repeatedly returned to the Degrassi chapter of his life, and each return has revealed how seriously he takes that period. In 2018, he reunited the cast for the “I’m Upset” music video, which centered around a high school reunion that functioned as both a nostalgia exercise and a statement about loyalty.
In 2025, he appeared in “Degrassi: Whatever It Takes,” the documentary that revisited the franchise with interviews from former cast members. The OVO x Degrassi collection is the third significant return and the most commercially realized.
The role itself was formative in ways that went beyond acting experience. “A lot more went into playing Jimmy after I got shot, for sure,” Drake said, referencing the season four storyline in which Jimmy Brooks is shot and left in a wheelchair for the remainder of his time on the show. “It gave me something to study. It gave me homework.” That willingness to take the material seriously, to find something worth learning in what could have been dismissed as a teenage soap opera, is consistent with how Drake has spoken about craft throughout his music career.
A Toronto Story Revisited Through OVO
The OVO x Degrassi collection arrives at a transitional moment for the brand. Earlier this year, OVO sold a majority ownership stake to Authentic Brands Group, which now oversees business operations, product development, and retail strategy. Drake retains a significant ownership stake and remains involved in the creative direction, and the Degrassi collaboration reflects that continued creative involvement more clearly than any press release could.
This is not a product decision driven by market research. It is a personal one, rooted in a specific city, a specific period of life, and a specific understanding of what OVO has always been about.
Ben Peace, EVP of Franchise at WildBrain, framed the partnership plainly: “Degrassi and OVO share deep Toronto roots, with ties that reach back to Jimmy Brooks and some of the franchise’s most memorable years. As we approach the 25th anniversary of Degrassi: The Next Generation in October, it feels like the perfect moment to celebrate the franchise’s cultural legacy with this collaboration.”
The OVO x Degrassi collection drops Friday, September 25, 2026, at 10 a.m. ET at octobersveryown.com and at OVO stores in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Los Angeles.
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Featured image: OVO
