Calgary fashion brands feature 3 widely-admired female medical chiefs on T-shirts

Two Calgary clothing makers and a local artist have teamed up on a line of T-shirts honouring three now-popular female public health officials.

The shirts have colourful renderings of Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, as well as Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Dr. Bonnie Henry, the chief medical officers of Alberta and British Columbia.

Fashion lines SophieGrace and Madame Premier are selling the shirts, with the portraits by Calgary artist Mandy Stobo, on their websites.

The shirts cost $45 and net proceeds are going to charities that focus on food security: the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Fresh Routes in Calgary and Second Harvest in Toronto.

SophieGrace founder Emma May says there will be a limited run of no more than 300 or 400 shirts.

She says both her brand and Madame Premier are female-focused, so it made sense to celebrate three high-profile women who have become trusted leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's not the first shirt that Dr. Hinshaw has inspired.

A Calgary assistant principal was so inspired by the daily COVID-19 updates from Alberta's chief medical officer of health thatshe came up with a shirt that israising thousands of dollars for children and food banks across the province.

Alison Van Rosendaal's black and white creation asks the question, "What would Dr. Hinshaw do?"