SFU bestows honorary degree on Haida fashion designer

Haida fashion designer Dorothy Grant received an SFU honorary degree at the June convocation ceremonies.

For more than three decades, Grant has been combining traditional Haida art with contemporary fashion design to create stunning garments that evoke self-respect and pride for First Nations culture. A graduate of Vancouver’s Helen LeFeaux School of Fashion Design, Grant premiered her first fashion collection in 1989 under the Feastwear label. Her Haida-inspired clothing has since appeared around the world on fashion runways, on the red carpet, and in museum and gallery collections. A successful entrepreneur, she continues to produce three fashion labels from her Tsawwassen, B.C. studio, leading the way for new generations of Indigenous designers across North America. In 2015 she received the Order of Canada for her “contributions to the fashion industry as an artist, designer and mentor.”