Maybe you imagine the prairies as a desolate, flat, grey, expanse of homogeneity. I certainly did. That admittedly shallow perspective was at least partially due to a lack of real life experience in the prairies, but especially because I hadn’t yet met Miriam. 

Miriam is a fashion designer based in Winnipeg. A wild, bright, vibrant, hugely successful fashion designer – with a style that feels like it lives a million miles from Winnipeg. Her parents immigrated to Canada before she was born, so, like the children of many immigrants, she grew up with strong support from her family to get a stable career, a “real job”, something that she could rely on – something that guaranteed success without taking huge risks like they did when they came to Canada. 

She got the career in politics. She bought the house. She had the family and her daughter Mara, and all was good. She was on the path she was supposed to be on. Until she wasn’t.

Fast forward a handful of years, Miriam is bringing this explosively vibrant work and perspective to the Winnipeg scene, casting a shadow much bigger than her own as she takes part in a growing fashion industry while also teaching fashion design at a local university to a whole bunch of kids, many of whom are the children of immigrants themselves.

Miriam has inspired me so much, and I’m so f***ing thankful to have been invited into her life to tell her story. 

An endless thank you to the people who worked with us to bring this thing off the ground.
Client: TurboTax
Subject: Miriam Delos Santos
Director and Stills: Christian Tisdale
Director & DP: Liam Mullany
Producer: Shannon Cherry
PM: Nina Laflamme
CD: Jed Churcher
Casting: Library Collective
Behind The Scenes: Nina Laflamme
1st AC: Pascal Boisvert
Sound: Joel Mierau
Editor: David Peacock
Sound Design: Keith White
Colour: Bacon X // Sam Gilling
Score: Andrew Judah

Massive special thank you to Stef Mancini, Toph Clarke, Mara, and a million other people who influenced the way this came to be. Thank you.