While Toronto-born rapper Drake’s crush on Rihanna never panned out in the end, he’s having his chance to shine bright like a diamond. Literally.
The Champagne Papi had good reason to pop some champers Tuesday night in celebration of a fairly bougie gift: a bespoke, diamond-encrusted sports jacket worth an estimated $769,000 to celebrate the Toronto Raptors. The fancy jacket was designed and gifted to him by Toronto’s Garrison Bespoke, a custom tailor-shop for men’s suits.
And we’re not just talking about one or two diamonds, but rather a whopping 235 diamonds hand-embroidered into the shape of the OVO owl on the chest of the jacket, Garrison Bespoke owner and founder Michael Nguyen told HuffPost Canada.
And for a little added bling, a 1.2-carat diamond pin sparkles on the left peaked lapel.
Despite the jacket being presented to Drake by Raptors president Masai Ujiri on Tuesday before game four between the Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks, the item was “gifted to the team and to Drake by Garrison and was not paid for by MLSE,” according to Nguyen.
“The Raptors asked for a surprise to be made, we are huge fans and wanted to celebrate by creating a memorable gift with our collaboration partners Diamond Foundry and Dormeiul,” said Garrison Bespoke marketing chief David Tran. “Ever since the original Drake commission, it’s been an annual tradition and is always presented at the game.”
The design company wanted to make that distinction after some confusion that the MLSE had paid for the jacket. Many people took to Twitter to lambast them for gifting such an expensive item to the multimillion rapper while NBA tickets continue to skyrocket in price.
Nguyen also noted that the sports jacket is from its “Couture Series” and is lined with the Toronto Raptors jersey that Drake designed himself.
“We’ve worked with Drake for the last five years, making him the original one that he ordered using a Deadstock Vince Carter Raptors jersey that he gave us to put inside the jacket,” said Nguyen.
And Drake’s gift was perhaps a precursor to a Raptors slam Tuesday night. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks 120-102, tying the Eastern Conference finals series at two wins apiece ― a win that may have surprised some given that Drake attended the game despite the “Drake curse.”
The jacket’s custom liner is the signature black and gold OVO Raptors jersey Drake personally had a hand in designing.
OVO (October’s Very Own) is Drake’s record and clothing label, whose logo is an owl, and this March, the Toronto Raptors renamed their training facility as OVO Athletic Centre. The rapper has been involved with the Raptors since being named the team’s global ambassador nearly six years ago. Six in the six, if you will.
“I’m really proud of this jacket from our couture collection, which this is made from, as it’s the perfect representation of making tailoring innovative, luxurious, and extremely personalized all things that are at the centre of the garrison brand,” said Nguyen.