Earlier this year, Jeremy Watt was on a call with Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady, executive producers of Crave’s Heated Rivalry. For Watt, cofounder of the Toronto-based lifestyle and apparel brand Province of Canada, it was the culmination of a crazy run of events that occurred after his company found itself sucked into the viral vortex of social media chatter around the hit show.
In episode 2, one of the main characters, Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams), wore a Team Canada fleece jacket, seen just for a few moments on-screen. But it was enough to make fans start clamoring for one of their own. Soon, a grassroots #ReleaseTheFleece campaign picked up speed across social media. Fans started @-mentioning Province of Canada in posts, even going so far as to point out specific fabrics the company already uses.
Watt took notice, and his team started to engage with the “ReleaseTheFleece” campaign. In one post, the brand gave viewers a taste of what a real-life jacket might look like. Then, on a whim, Watt sent a direct message to Hanna Puley, the show’s costume designer, throwing Province of Canada’s hat into the ring for bringing “The Fleece” to life.
Now, a few months later, the results of that DM are finally launching into the world, as Province of Canada opens up preorders for the viral fleece.
Made in Canada
Watt started Province of Canada in 2014 with his wife, Julie Brown. The idea was to create a lifestyle brand with products made entirely in Canada—but without the usual stereotypes. His “feverish passion” for Canadian-made products, however, started years before that. When Watt was growing up in Ontario, his parents were avid supporters of Canadian brands because there were so few of them. “They were always the type to be, like, ‘If there’s something Canadian, we should support it,’” he says.
In college, Watt and Brown both majored in graphic design, but neither has worked a traditional graphic design job. The dream was always to create a business together. By 2014, it reached a point where Watt realized that if they didn’t do it then, they never would. And so, Province of Canada was born.
The lifestyle and apparel brand offers everything from shirts and outerwear to accessories, focusing on high-quality textiles and a dedication to authentic Canadian craftsmanship by sourcing and manufacturing exclusively within the country.
The road to fleece
When they first opened up shop, Watt’s ultimate goal was to outfit Team Canada for the Summer Olympics in 2024, a full decade away. Back then, the Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia—the same setting where Heated Rivalry’s Hollander sports the now-famous fleece.
While that dream didn’t come to fruition for Paris in 2024, “seeing this fictitious version of an apparel piece like that really sparked something,” Watt says. He describes the Heated Rivalry collaboration as symbolic of a potential future Olympics partnership, and says he knew that Province of Canada needed to be part of the conversation.
When the initial social media post was made, Watt didn’t really think the show’s team would pick Province of Canada to create The Fleece. It’s a relatively small outfit, and he anticipated they might need a bigger brand for mass production to meet demand. But Watt bet his company’s dedication to creating an entirely Canadian product would resonate, and he was right. On the call, Tierney said, “If I had to dream up someone to bring this to life, it would be you guys,” Watt recalls.
Watt says the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and Canada is a reminder of why his company is willing to stick to their made-in-Canada principles. “Made in Canada” can “easily slide off people’s tongues as a little detail,” he notes. “But for something like this—and the importance of it as it relates to the values of the show, but also the challenges of it—it’s a really important part of it. That should be the thing that’s appreciated most about this, because typically, something like this would not be made in Canada.
Watt is approaching the challenge of taking The Fleece from screen to reality by considering what Puley could have achieved if she had more time. Heated Rivalry was completed in just over a month of production; what Puley created served its purpose, but mass-producing the jacket is a different undertaking.
Manufacturing entirely in Canada creates its own challenges, especially when it comes to sourcing and how fast the company can realistically produce something. But Watt says even if the fleece were being made overseas, it wouldn’t happen overnight. The entire project is “an awesome design problem to solve,” he says.
Releasing The Fleece
Since the announcement, Watt has received messages from people who identify deeply with Heated Rivalry’s story. For some of them, The Fleece is an important symbol, something that allows them to connect with their identity. Watt says he tries to avoid trend-based product creation, but this is more than a trend.
“There’s a lot of compassion in that story, if you’ve watched the show all the way to episode 6,” Watt says. Episode 6 sees Hollander officially get together with rival hockey player Ilya Rozanov (played by Connor Storrie) after years of hiding. Tierney and Brady have spoken about the quiet nature of the season 1 finale and the importance of leaving the couple happy and in love.
“Even though this could be just a blanket or a piece of clothing, we are trying to create that episode 6 moment for everything that we do in this lifestyle brand,” Watt continues. “The whole thing wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the storytelling, and for Hanna, the costume designer, understanding the storytelling, leading with compassion and empathy and understanding.”
Ten percent of the proceeds from The Fleece will go to You Can Play, an organization focused on safety and inclusion in sports, especially for LGBTQ+ athletes, coaches, and fans. The National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association will match contributions up to a combined total of $50,000 CAD. Watt calls this part of the collaboration the “icing on the cake.” He wanted the partner charity to have a sports aspect to connect even further to the message of the streaming TV series.
“It’s important to the show and important to the community and important to us that we pick an organization that is in alignment and an organic part of the story of the community,” he says.