Vancouver-based designers celebrate red carpet appearance at the Oscars

Courtney Dickson · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 03, 2025 4:11 PM EST | Last Updated: March 4

Himikalas Pam Baker watched the Oscars connected Sunday nighttime with a consciousness of anticipation — not conscionable to spot the winners successful each class but for thing a small much personal. 

She watches the awards amusement each year, but the 2025 amusement was much personal: immoderate of her covering designs made an quality connected the reddish carpet. 

Baker, who is of Kwaguilth and Squamish heritage, has designed pieces for the likes of Lily Gladstone nether her company, Touch of Culture Legends House of Design.

She and chap Vancouver-based decorator Zahir Rajani were asked to make pieces for the filmmakers and subjects of Sugarcane, the Oscar-nominated movie that explores the past of St. Joseph's Mission, a erstwhile residential schoolhouse successful B.C.'s Interior, and the lasting interaction it had connected those forced to attend.

Residential schools person been described by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada arsenic an "attempt to destruct Aboriginal cultures and languages."

"What the authorities and the religion did was horrific," Baker told CBC's The Early Edition connected Monday. 

"Thankfully, radical are recognizing the stories, recognizing the art. I've been successful this concern 35 years, and the eventual extremity was to stock our stories and fto the satellite cognize that we're inactive here."

Baker said she made immoderate dresses, a mates of cummerbunds and a vest for the filmmakers and their party. 

Meanwhile, Rajani, co-creative manager of The Sartorial Shop, said helium made a pants and garment combo for Julian Brave NoiseCat, a tuxedo for Ed Archie NoiseCat and Williams Lake First Nation Kúkwpi7 (Chief) Willie Sellars' suit — each personalized to acceptable each man.

Julian needed thing to marque the moosehide vest his aunt had made pop. Ed's tux was monogrammed, and the interior lining featured immoderate of the colours helium uses successful his ain artwork, Rajani said. 

Sellars' specifically wanted his suit to beryllium sage green, according to Rajani.

"Sage is healing. Sage is important not lone to him personally, but the community, the culture."

As a non-Indigenous designer, Rajani said it was a "genuine honour and privilege" to formal the NoiseCats and Sellars. 

"My woman and I, we worked connected this together. She is my co-creative director, and we still, until this morning, bespeak connected however overmuch of an honour it was conscionable to beryllium a portion of this and beryllium a portion of thing that's important to the First Peoples of North America."

The day after the Oscars, Sellars told CBC's Sarah Penton that his outfit besides included quillwork by Big Joe Mountain retired of Wisconsin. 

"We were joking astir each night we were the champion dressed film," helium said.

"We wanted to enactment connected a bully amusement and correspond Indigenous peoples crossed this country."

WATCH | Chief Willie Sellars dances connected the reddish carpet:

Sellars posted a video to his Facebook leafage of him dancing connected the reddish carpet successful his suit from The Sartorial Shop, blessing the grounds of the Academy Awards. As of Monday afternoon, it had been viewed much than 150,000 times, and Sellars said the feedback from his assemblage and beyond has been highly supportive.

"Indian state is pumped astir america expressing our civilization to the world, and that's what Sugarcane has done," helium said.

"We were reasoning of everyone backmost home, and we were reasoning astir however we were gonna marque them proud."