A Halifax-based content creator known for her advocacy of sustainable fashion and for pushing back against ageism in the industry is gearing up to be one of the official blue carpet correspondents at Halifax Fashion Week.
Sarah McCann, a content creator, teacher, mother, laser technician and a freelance model, has spent the last few years carving a unique niche on social media, where she blends style with substance by spotlighting eco-conscious brands and speaking candidly about aging in fashion. At 43 years young, McCann is proving that both sustainability and representation for older women deserve a place on the runway.
“My original intent was to make fashion content, and then over time I was seeing what I was creating and thought, eww, why am I promoting fast fashion, and fast fashion brands. They do no good,” McCann said. “I started to shift and pivot, and work with small businesses. Most of them have a sustainable approach, upcycle or even rework pieces. I fell in love with that.”
“My social media feed is filled with content about sustainability in fashion,” McCann said. “I happened to be scrolling one day when I saw that The Mills Halifax Fashion Week was looking for a spokesmodel.”
The theme of the 2025 event is called Blueprint, with a focus on sustainability in fashion.
“This was right up my alley,” she said.
“I was wondering if that was something I should apply for, I was drawn to it… Unfortunately I did not win. But as the saying goes, when one door closes another opens. I was invited to be a blue carpet correspondent,” she said.
Now, McCann will attend every day of Halifax Fashion Week, as well as all the activities leading up to the event. Her role will involve engaging with attendees, designers, and models on the carpet while highlighting sustainability initiatives in the fashion community.
“I credit the power of social media for helping me land this opportunity,” McCann said
Her own journey into content creation began during the pandemic. What started as a creative outlet soon became a platform to tackle deeper issues — such as unrealistic portrayals of life online and the lack of age diversity in the fashion world.
McCann says sustainability isn’t just a trend — it’s a responsibility, and one she is committed to elevating through her content and future projects.
“I want to keep working with brands and designers that care about how clothes are made, who is making them, and what happens to them after we wear them. I want to show people that fashion can be conscious and still beautiful,” she said.
She also spoke candidly about her initial hesitation to pursue her dream of working in fashion, believing that motherhood had closed that door.
“I once thought you had to get into the industry only as a teen, but now I know if you have a dream, you need to chase it,” she said. “I had a friend who was in the acting industry and she started as a teenager. And by the time I thought that I could do it, and decided I could do it, I believed it was too late.”
But seeing older models walk the runway changed her perspective.
“When I saw models like Sherry Anne Crowe, Stacey Moser, Karen Gosbee walking in the runways at Fabric of Our DNA, I knew it was something that was not a far-off goal,” she said. “I have used social media as a tool to connect with these signed models and then we started to build a connection and a sisterhood. I felt like I could rely on them and I reached out for support.
“I never thought I would be adding model or aspiring model to the list of things I use to describe me,” she said. “I am a freelance model as of right now, but I hope to sign in the future. I would love to work with Smash + Tess… they are a brand I would love to be a part of and work with to see me being the representation.”
For McCann, the message is clear: age should never be a barrier to creativity, ambition or self-expression.
“Social media gave me the confidence to bet on myself. That inspired me to start my aesthetics business. I know the industry gets a bad reputation, and I am thankful I got started when I was much older. I knew myself and this gave me a creative outlet,” she said.
“Age doesn’t diminish talent. If anything, it adds to it.”
This article appears in Jul 1-31, 2025.