Former Hurricanes captain Hood merging sports and fashion

Even if you don’t know Graham Hood, chances are, you’ve seen his work splashed across your social media feeds.

But how did the Martensville, Sask. product, known for his tough, ferocious play on the ice, end up helming a clothing company?

After wrapping up a long WHL career that saw him play parts of six seasons with the Regina Pats and the Lethbridge Hurricanes, where he served as captain for his final year of major junior, Hood headed to the oil patch and spent his free time jetting around the world, particularly Bali.

Beyond the natural beauty of the Indonesian island, he was struck by the creativity of the people and began to learn more about the textile industry and manufacturing process.

It was the spark he needed to make a change.

“I moved back to Vancouver, took advantage of the (WHL) scholarship money and went to design school,” Hood said. “Learned how to sew, learned how to draft patterns, learned how to do all the things that nobody ever thought I would probably end up doing because of who I was on the ice. That was an interesting transition, but that’s kind of how it started and where the inspiration came from, just being around a different culture, being out of my bubble and removed from that small town and and not having all my hockey bros around me all the time and just being able to be open minded.

“It is very much so an expression of self that was also a big thing that attracted me to what fashion had to offer and what garments have to offer. Just creating something, you can make somebody feel something. I mean, a hat can make you feel something. Shoes can make you feel something. All things that we put on our body, there’s a reason why we choose to do that, and it usually is because it’s something that we feel inside, and then it’s something that you’re proud to move around the world with and be an extension of who you are.”

Now, the former Hurricanes captain can wield a needle just as easily as a hockey stick- he even returned to the Blanche MacDonald Centre in Vancouver to teach new students how to sew and draft patterns by hand.

The next big step came with founding the custom design and production company In House Creations and wholesale supplier Básico Branco.

It’s even led Hood back to the hockey world.

For the past four seasons, In House has partnered with the Vancouver Canucks to create custom collections offered through Vanbase and the Canucks Team Store.

 

They’ve also created jackets for the significant others of Canucks players for the 2024 NHL Playoffs and the Washington Capitals in 2025.

But as the In House crew ground through the production of dozens of jackets, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was also on the cusp of breaking the NHL’s all-time goal record.

Hood’s dad, Todd, urged him to make a new design for the Great 8.

“(My dad) used to always buy me jerseys for the outdoor rink and the first Heritage Classic that the Caps were in, he bought me that jersey,” Hood explained. “I’ve had it forever, and now it’s cut up and built into this jacket.

“We got the opportunity to meet (Ovechkin) and give him the jacket, and kind of give him the background of what that jacket was, where it came from, and why we did it for him. For me, just because my dad was always my biggest supporter with me playing hockey, it was a pretty surreal moment, especially because he just beat Gretzky’s record, too. He was super pumped. When he tried it on, he was like, ‘Nobody makes things that actually fit me!’ I just made it to fit myself because we’re the same size, so that was a little bit of a cheat code that we had.”

While the NHL Playoffs have drawn to a close, In House and Básico Branco are still hard at work.

The companies now have five full-time employees and Hood hopes to branch out further as a local licensing partner for more NHL and NBA teams.

At just 33 years old, he’s thankful for the opportunities he’s had on the ice, but hopes other athletes will also branch out to see what can happen when they explore what drives them outside of sports.

“It’s an amazing opportunity and it’s going to give you a lot of things in life,” Hood added. “Life is so much bigger than the sport, but that sport, in general, will always be there to support you and help you through.”