Spartan Profiles: Jillian Granz

JILLIAN GRANZ:  GREEN DRESSMAKER

            This year’s Academy Awards featured the work of a Spartan who will not be at the ceremony, but who’s contribution is nonetheless significant. Jillian Granz, a senior at MSU, designed the dress worn by Suzy Amis Cameron—wife of producer and director James Cameron, who won Oscars for such blockbusters as Titanic and Avatar.

            Granz won the first annual “Red Carpet, Green Dress” contest for sustainable dress design that was sponsored by Amis Cameron. “This is so exciting, and I wasn’t expecting this at all,” says Jillian, who will graduate in May with a degree in apparel and textile design. 

             Her dress design uses peace silk, which is sustainable, and uses a no-waste patterning technique where very little of the fabric is discarded. Her dress won in a worldwide competition—including 15 other entries from MSU classmates—was unveiled at a pre-Oscar party hosted by the Camerons, accompanied by Jillian. “Until I see her wear it, I don’t think I’ll understand completely what this means for me,” says Jillian before the trip West. “I think I’ll just be staring at the screen, watching her wear my design. This means so much.” As the grand-prize winner, Jillian was flown to Los Angeles for a four-night stay in Santa Monica, met the Camerons, and toured MUSE Elementary, which benefitted from the proceeds of the competition. 

            A native of Canton, Jillian chose to attend MSU because of the fashion design program.  “It’s been great,” she says.  “Our program has really developed in the last few years.  Our name is getting out there as a design school.  We are small, but all our professors are great.”  She adds that the fashion industry has been trying to be greener, but “there is still a lot of waste that goes on.”  She says that her winning the competition “opened the doors” for her in the industry, which is centered around New York, Los Angeles and overseas.