Hudson Williams’ cardigan sparks a $12,000 success story for its Indigenous designer
Hudson Williams (left) Justin Jacob Louis Journey Cardigan (right) (Getty Images)
Hudson Williams latest style moment sparked an almost instant online sell-out, with the Indigenous designer behind the $350 cardigan, Justin Jacob Louis, revealing a $12,000 boost in sales.
The Heated Rivalry star stepped out in Louis’ blue-and-black striped “Journey” cardigan at the Kate Spade New York Global Summit on Women’s Mental Health in New York on 30 September.
Louis told British Vogue the reaction was immediate. “It’s pretty surreal,” he said. “It’s cool when somebody who has that much influence sees and appreciates your work.”
Louis said he only realised what was happening after returning from a paddle on the lake, when his phone started “blowing up” as fan pages tagged him. He said the cardigan alone generated $12,000 in sales, also gaining him a couple hundred new followers.
How did the Journey cardigan end up in New York?
Louis said Williams’ agent contacted him to buy the cardigan, but the request came too late for warehouse shipping. Instead, he said someone from Williams’ team drove from Vancouver to pick it up ahead of the actor’s appearance at the summit.
He also said Williams paid for the piece rather than asking for it for free, and later messaged him directly to say thank you.
For Louis, the spike was the kind of moment that can make a real difference to an independent label. “People think we have a lot of money – we don’t. We’re always grinding,” he said, adding that a sales day like that can create “breathing room” when bills are due.
Why Truth and Reconciliation Day mattered
Williams wore the cardigan on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and also wore an orange ribbon. The day commemorates Indigenous children who were removed from their families against their will and made to attend Canada’s residential school system, which continued until 1996.
Louis said he had only 60 units left when the cardigan sold out, and opened pre-orders after demand kept coming.
Williams’ intense fandom has had real-world knock-on effects before. In September, his girlfriend Katelyn Larson asked fans to stop booking tattoo appointments purely because of their connection to Heated Rivalry.
