Justin Jacob Louis teams up with Roots for new leather collection

Designer Justin Jacob Louis has partnered with Roots on a limited-edition leather collection: a varsity jacket, the Small Banff Bag, the Mini Banff Bag and a passport holder. Released as Roots X SECTION 35, the capsule marks the 10th anniversary of SECTION 35, the Indigenous-owned streetwear brand Louis founded.

Louis, SECTION 35's founder and creative director, is a member of the Samson Cree Nation. He was born and raised in Nipisihkopahk (Samson), on Treaty 6 territory, and started the brand to share his people's stories through art and fashion.

The varsity jacket features embroidered, chenille and appliqué details, and the passport holder carries an embroidered floral patch. Roots says the pieces were designed and handcrafted at its Toronto factory. In its product notes, Roots says Louis sees the jacket's design as a prayer going out to the four directions, and that the floral embellishments reflect his connection to Nipisihkopahk.

Roots does "a good job of bringing what I'm seeing and trying to create to life," Louis told IND in a September interview. He called the new collection the pinnacle of SECTION 35's first 10 years: "It's like the end of something and the beginning of the next chapter."

The partnership began in the summer of 2024, when SECTION 35 and Roots made a capsule collection for the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Toronto. It sold out after its first weekend.

Louis announced the capsule on Instagram as "a love letter celebrating the journey that is SECTION 35." It is available online at roots.com and in store at Roots Eaton Centre in Toronto, Roots West Edmonton Mall and Roots Hornby in Vancouver, he wrote.