WHEN ANDRÉANNE MULAIRE DANDENEAU studied fashion at LaSalle College in Montréal in 2004, she created a hemp couture gown. The garment would account for the majority of her final grade, and the professors were skeptical that an elegant, runway-worthy dress could be made from hemp. She sourced the finest hemp silks, jacquards and other textiles to create a luxurious gown — and, yes, it made the end-of-year runway show. “I had to prove them wrong!” says Dandeneau, now the CEO of her own Winnipeg-based sustainable fashion label, Anne Mulaire. “And now we’re seeing hemp on red carpets.” Due to her roots — she is Anishinaabe and French Métis from the Red River Nation — thinking sustainably comes naturally. “We have it in our blood.” Prior to launching her company in 2005, Dandeneau drew from her contemporary dance experience and began designing costumes for dance troupes. She has been the costume designer for the Nafro Dance Company in Winnipeg since 2004. Now, 20 years since founding the label, Dandeneau’s company employs 13 people and has won numerous eco awards, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Sustainable Economy Award 2024, and Delta Management’s Clean 50 for retail and consumer products. Anne Mulaire’s operations are fully zero waste and carbon neutral. Everything is made in-house, with much of her fabric inventory coming from Ontario and Québec. Designs are influenced by her French, Indigenous and Métis cultures. “We’re trying to inspire other companies to look at their own waste and think, ‘What can you do to benefit the planet?’ ” Central to this question, she says, is motivation. “Are you driven by profit or are you driven by impact?” She’s proven that both are possible — and hopes to inspire other companies to come to the same conclusion.