At eleven years old, Rebecca Baker-Grenier sat at her mother’s sewing machine and created her first piece of ceremonial regalia. That early act of cultural expression would become the foundation for a meteoric rise that has taken her from family sewing rooms to New York Fashion Week, from ancestral teachings to dressing Hollywood stars like Lily Gladstone for Vogue.
But for this Kwakiutł, Dzawada’enuxw, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh designer, fashion has never been about fame—it’s about carrying forward something far more profound.
Sewing as Lineage
“I don’t think I had the typical journey of a fashion designer,” Rebecca reflects. She grew up watching her mother sew, helping with small tasks, playing in the sewing room—the same way her mother learned from her grandmother, and the same way Rebecca’s own children learn now.
“When I was 11, my mother taught me how to use the sewing machine and a few basic skills. I then made my own dance regalia and have since been sewing and beading personal and family regalia,” she shares. This intergenerational transmission of knowledge isn’t just her background—it’s the heart of her practice.
In 2021, Rebecca decided to push her creativity and skills further by learning fashion design. She began apprenticing under her aunty, Himikalas Pam Baker, an established and talented artist and designer who has been instrumental in Rebecca’s journey.
“In our culture, this is the way we learn, from our family, so it is special that this has been my experience,” she explains.
The learning process has been a blend of family wisdom and personal experimentation. “A lot of learning has been trial and error, but it’s always worth trying new things and pushing yourself to improve.”
From Ceremony to Contemporary
Just one year after beginning her formal fashion journey, Rebecca debuted her first collection at New York Fashion Week in September 2022—a remarkable achievement that announced her arrival on the international fashion stage. Since then, her intricate, sculptural, and totally covetable designs have been exhibited at the Museum of Vancouver and the American Museum of Natural History. She’s showcased her brand, Kanyu, at both New York Fashion Week and Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, and her work has graced the pages of Elle Canada.
With a BA in Indigenous Studies from UBC, Rebecca brings intellectual depth to her artistic practice. “There is an intimate and ancestral connection to the art that I create,” she explains. “I strive to represent my identity as a Kwakiutl, Dzawada’enuxw, and Squamish woman. Art is a means to transfer knowledge and carry forward our culture for the next generation.”
The Meaning Behind the Making
When speaking about what drives her work, Rebecca demonstrates a depth of knowledge about the “inner ancestral self” that resides within us all. Her designs are an enactment of her love and respect for the meaning of cultural regalia—which she describes as a representation of who you are, where you come from, the lands that nourish you, and your ancestral lineage.
“For me, it’s about creating something that has meaning and a purpose,” Rebecca says. “Art is about imagining something that hasn’t been done before, pushing the limits of what we think might be possible, and doing something new and exciting.”
The creative aspect comes most naturally—imagining designs, colors, silhouettes with endless possibilities. But for Rebecca, the story always comes first. “The meaning behind what I am creating is as important as the finished product.”
Her mission is to bring the significance of cultural regalia into everyday clothing. “For me fashion is a way to demonstrate our pride as Indigenous people and represent who we are. It’s also a way for non-Indigenous people to learn and support, even just a little bit.”
Our Roots Run Deep
Rebecca’s newest collection, showcased at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week 2025, exemplifies her approach to storytelling through design. “Our Roots Run Deep” examines the integral relationship between waterways and neighboring forest systems, the cultural connections within this relationship, and the devastating impact of colonial and extractive practices.
“This relationship creates an intricate and delicate balance that impacts the land around it and holds the key to a healthy and thriving ecosystem,” Rebecca explains. “Deforestation, urbanization, and colonial extractive practices forget the teachings of this land and they ignore all that it has taught us in how to care for it. It is the destruction of a mutually dependent complex system of life.”
Color plays a foundational role in her design process. For this collection, her palette is based on copper—a material and symbol deeply important in her culture. “Copper, being a living metal, transforms to a diverse range of colors as it patinas—blues, greens, blacks, and so on,” she notes, allowing the natural transformation of the metal to guide her aesthetic choices.
The collection carries urgent questions: “Our supernatural beings, our stories, our histories, our very essence of our cultural identity all comes from the land. We are of the land and will one day return to the land. When it is gone, what happens?”
Art as Ancestral Knowledge
Rebecca’s designs blend cultural identity with contemporary art in ways that feel both timeless and utterly of this moment. Her work is deeply rooted in ancestral narratives yet speaks powerfully to contemporary concerns about environmental destruction, cultural preservation, and Indigenous sovereignty.
Inspiration, she says, is everywhere. “My work starts with my culture, the land, and all that is around. Sometimes inspiration is a feeling, a movement, a texture, a color and sometimes it’s rooted in a story, history, or my lineage.”
While some pieces she creates would not be for sale due to their sacred nature, Rebecca generally designs wearable pieces for everyone—Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. She’s recently released her first ready-to-wear clothing line, making her vision more accessible while maintaining the integrity and meaning behind each design.
Carrying Culture Forward
In 2021, Rebecca received the YVR Emerging Artist award, recognition of her rapid ascent and significant impact. But accolades aren’t what drive her. For Rebecca Baker-Grenier, fashion design is about something more fundamental: ensuring that the next generation inherits not just beautiful clothing, but the stories, knowledge, and cultural identity woven into every stitch.
As she continues to push boundaries and explore new territories in Indigenous fashion, Rebecca remains grounded in the lessons learned in her mother’s sewing room—that creation is connection, that art carries culture forward, and that our roots, when tended with care and respect, run deeper than we can imagine.
Experience fashion rooted in ancestral knowledge. Discover Rebecca Baker-Grenier’s intricate, story-driven designs that bridge ceremony and contemporary style. Visit www.rebeccabakergrenier.com or follow @rebecca.baker.g on Instagram to explore her collections, including her new ready-to-wear line, and connect with fashion that honors the land and carries culture forward.
