February 29th, 2016 Last Updated on: August 14th, 2016
In what is pretty much every fashion designer's dream, Dorothy Grant (Haida) had an original creation walk down the red carpet for the Academy Awards. And she only had one week to create it!
Duane Howard (Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation) starred in The Revenant as Elk Dog, an Arikara warrior who is searching for his daughter after she was captured by fur traders. The film was well received and scored 12 Oscar nominations. According to an interview with CBCNews, Grant said while Howard wasn't originally invited to the show, a talk with Leonardo Dicaprio about the need to have indigenous representation at the Oscars finally scored him a seat.
“He said [to Leonardo], ‘I'm sharing this award with First Nations, Native Americans and the indigenous people of the world.'” Grant recalled Howard telling her.
“Low and behold only a week ago he was invited to the Oscars,” said Grant.
So with a last minute invitation to one of the biggest events in an actor's life, Grant scrambled to design an appropriate outfit for Howard. I think the final product was a success!
Howard's tuxedo echoes his Nuu-chah-nulth heritage with eagle and raven artwork on the lapel.
“The whole final look on him is absolutely exquisite, … with a white arrow point tuxedo shirt, fine pleats in the front, with really nice black jeweled buttons on the tuxedo shirt, and nice cufflinks,” said Grant.
“I just fitted the suit to him impeccably.”
And here's video of Howard on the carpet in this interview from TNT América Latina:
Great job Dorothy Grant! For more information on the designer and how you can order some of her looks, you can visit her website at http://dorothygrant.com/
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