{"id":4964,"date":"2026-03-24T11:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/?p=4964"},"modified":"2026-03-24T11:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:07:13","slug":"the-michelle-houle-success-story-career-achievements-and-impact-on-the-canadian-fashion-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/eternal-4964-the-michelle-houle-success-story-career-achievements-and-impact-on-the-canadian-fashion-industry","title":{"rendered":"The Michelle Houle Success Story: Career, Achievements, and Impact on the Canadian Fashion Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michelle Houle is an Indigenous Edmonton<\/a> model who has dedicated much of her life to building a successful career in the fashion industry. Through her professionalism, perseverance, and striking style, she has become a true role model and an inspiration to many. Her success story<\/a> in the modelling world continues to capture attention and spark interest, both within Canada and internationally. Discover more about Michelle Houle\u2019s journey to recognition, her key achievements, and the defining moments of her career on edmontonka.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How an Edmonton Model Achieved Success in the Fashion Industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For years, Edmontonians have recognized a familiar face on local networks like Global Television, CTV, and CBC, in the pages of the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun, and on billboards across the city. That face belongs to Michelle Houle, who has been modelling professionally in Alberta for over 30 years. Earning a living as a paid model for such a long time is incredibly rare in Canada. It\u2019s no surprise, then, that many prominent Indigenous models, including Linsay Willier, have been mentored and trained by her. Moreover, her influence extends to countless women of all backgrounds, cultures, and nationalities through Western Canada Fashion Week (WCFW), which took place in Edmonton<\/a> in May 2022. In one of her many interviews, Michelle shared that she launched her career back when WCFW was still known as Edmonton Fashion Week<\/a> (EFW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Houle\u2019s First Steps in the Modelling Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Michelle\u2019s interest in modelling started as early as elementary school. Once, a teacher assigned the class to write about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Houle illustrated the cover of her story with a picture of a girl with curly blonde hair and big eyes. At the time, she believed she had to look exactly like that to succeed in the modelling world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Michelle was 13, her mother took her to four different agencies in Edmonton. After choosing one, she began taking modelling classes. Landing a job as a regular model for PHABRIK Magazine felt like a true blessing, opening up exciting new opportunities in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Houle soon began appearing on billboards, in commercials, and music videos. She also worked as a host and participated in bridal shows, steadily building a stellar reputation. Her long, successful career was further bolstered by her collaborations with James Kershaw, one of Canada\u2019s most renowned makeup artists. For years, he developed concepts, storylines, and makeup looks, while also styling the “Style” section of the Edmonton Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indigenous Influence on Modern Fashion and Michelle Houle\u2019s Role in Shaping Canada\u2019s Fashion Industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond her modelling career, Michelle holds a full-time job in the oil and gas sector. She works as an office manager for a successful company that manufactures submersible pumps. On top of that, she sits on three Indigenous inclusion committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When speaking with aspiring models, Michelle always reminds them to never stop learning and growing. She emphasizes the need to constantly hone their craft, perfect their runway walk, and practice different camera angles. In her view, the fashion industry changes from season to season, making it crucial to stay current. Houle also advises beginners to seek out reputable agencies by talking to other models about their experiences with specific agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Houle is more than just a model; she is a community organizer and a mentor who is deeply committed to helping others. Contemporary Indigenous fashion is experiencing a unique moment in history, largely thanks to women like Houle, who have paved the way for future generations of Indigenous creatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Houle is an Indigenous Edmonton model who has dedicated much of her life to building a successful career in the fashion industry. Through her professionalism, perseverance, and striking style, she has become a true role model and an inspiration to many. Her success story in the modelling world continues to capture attention and spark […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":402,"featured_media":4956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1036],"tags":[3148,3713,3714,3712,3710,3711,3715,3716,3698],"motype":[1045],"moformat":[66],"moimportance":[34,33],"class_list":{"0":"post-4964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-style-and-beauty","8":"tag-canadian-fashion-industry","9":"tag-canadian-modelling-business","10":"tag-edmonton-model","11":"tag-indigenous-fashion-canada","12":"tag-indigenous-models","13":"tag-michelle-houle","14":"tag-model-success-story","15":"tag-modelling-career","16":"tag-western-canada-fashion-week","17":"motype-eternal","18":"moformat-vlasna","19":"moimportance-golovna-novina","20":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4965,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4964\/revisions\/4965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4964"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=4964"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=4964"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontonka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=4964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}