About Miranda Fish Millinery

Shona Humphrey has always been interested in creating wonderful things from  whatever she had on hand. Childhood fridge art in Ontario evolved to studies in Fashion at Sheridan College. Shona’s spare time was spent in the musical theatre department where she got hooked on the excitement of making costumes for the stage.

Shona went on to work in theatre and gained a reputation of being a speedy seamstress committed to the highest quality of production. She worked at the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Banff Centre, the National Ballet of Canada and at the National Ballet School in Toronto, where she added tutus and modern dance to her repertoire of construction techniques. She also designed and built a few shows for Ballet Jorgen and helped produce costumes for skating shows.

Her favourite time was spent at Livent in Toronto, which produced large scale shows such as Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Sunset Boulevard and Ragtime. These were big-budget productions with often two to three sets of costumes built to accommodate touring companies. Shona loved the care and attention to detail each costume was given: silk lining, hand beaded trims, custom-made corsets, custom-dyed fabrics, European-style tailoring and vintage lace.

In 1998 Shona decided on a change of pace and moved to beautiful New Brunswick. The drive, determination and creativity Shona nurtured in her years in Toronto have been put to good use in Fredericton: she founded Miranda Fish Millinery, a one-woman designer hats and accessories business. Shona/Miranda is a member of the New Brunswick Craft Council, the Nova Scotia Designer Craft council and the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. She also spent six years as a member of the Fredericton Boyce Market Association. Shona attends fine craft shows from Halifax to Toronto and beyond and also does wholesale business with a select number of shops and galleries across Canada (for wholesale inquiries, contact Miranda Fish directly).

After nearly 10 years in business making wonderfully stylish hats and accessories, Shona decided the fall of 2007 would be a good time to establish a new vision for Miranda Fish. After a successful show at the New Brunswick Craft Council's Festival of Fine Craft in Fredericton in September, she donated her remaining 170 hats to the local Canadian Cancer Society and CIBC Run for the Cure. The Cancer Society provides hats, along with wigs and head scarves, to patients undergoing chemotherapy. The office staff were thrilled to receive the donation, and Shona was then inspired to donate her trademark long braid to Locks of Love, an organization that collects hair donations to make wigs for children who experience hair loss. She had a total of 15 inches of hair cut for the cause.

Unlike the mythical Sampson, Shona hasn't experienced any loss of strength due to her drastic haircut. In fact, she feels renewed and revitalized, with a new direction for Miranda in mind. While select shops will continue to carry Miranda Fish hats, Shona is now in the process of developing a new and exciting line of clothing and accessories.