diff --git a/code/model/behavior/sortable.php b/code/model/behavior/sortable.php
index f9c584f246..8b81ae0d2b 100644
--- a/code/model/behavior/sortable.php
+++ b/code/model/behavior/sortable.php
@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@
 /**
  * Sortable Model Behavior
  *
+ * By making a model sortable you give the flexibility to change how the returned data is sorted to the client.
+ * Clients can use the 'sort' URL parameter to control how the returned data is sorted. The sort order for each
+ * sort field is ascending unless it is prefixed with a minus (U+002D HYPHEN-MINUS, “-“), in which case it is
+ * descending.
+ *
+ * Example: GET /posts?sort=-created_on,title
+ * This means to sort the data by its created time descended and then the title ascended.
+ *
+ * Based on the Sorting specification in the JSON API
+ * @link http://jsonapi.org/format/#fetching-sorting
+ *
  * @author  Johan Janssens <https://github.com/johanjanssens>
  * @package Kodekit\Library\Model\Behavior
  */
@@ -27,8 +38,7 @@ public function onMixin(ObjectMixable $mixer)
         parent::onMixin($mixer);
 
         $mixer->getState()
-            ->insert('sort', 'cmd')
-            ->insert('direction', 'word', 'asc');
+            ->insert('sort', 'cmd');
     }
 
     /**
@@ -39,17 +49,10 @@ public function onMixin(ObjectMixable $mixer)
      */
     protected function _afterReset(ModelContextInterface $context)
     {
-        if($context->modified == 'sort' && strpos($context->state->sort, ',') !== false)
+        if($context->modified->contains('sort'))
         {
-            $context->state->sort = explode(',', $context->state->sort);
-
-            foreach($context->state->sort as $key => $value)
-            {
-                if(strtoupper($value) == 'DESC' || strtoupper($value) == 'ASC')
-                {
-                    unset($context->state->sort[$key]);
-                    $context->state->direction = $value;
-                }
+            if(is_string($context->state->sort) && strpos($context->state->sort, ',') !== false) {
+                $context->state->sort = explode(',', $context->state->sort);
             }
         }
     }
@@ -66,19 +69,21 @@ protected function _beforeFetch(ModelContextInterface $context)
 
         if ($model instanceof ModelDatabase && !$context->state->isUnique())
         {
-            $state = $context->state;
-
-            $sort      = $state->sort;
-            $direction = strtoupper($state->direction);
-            $columns   = array_keys($this->getTable()->getColumns());
+            $sort    = (array) ObjectConfig::unbox($context->state->sort);
+            $columns = array_keys($this->getTable()->getColumns());
 
             if ($sort)
             {
-                $column = $this->getTable()->mapColumns($sort);
-                $context->query->order($column, $direction);
+                foreach($sort as $column)
+                {
+                    $direction = substr( $column, 0, 1 ) == '-' ? 'DESC' : 'ASC';
+                    $column    = $this->getTable()->mapColumns(ltrim($column, '-'));
+
+                    $context->query->order($column, $direction);
+                }
             }
 
-            if ($sort != 'ordering' && in_array('ordering', $columns)) {
+            if (!in_array('ordering', $sort) && in_array('ordering', $columns)) {
                 $context->query->order('tbl.ordering', 'ASC');
             }
         }
diff --git a/code/template/helper/grid.php b/code/template/helper/grid.php
index 1fb86071d2..09bec9435b 100644
--- a/code/template/helper/grid.php
+++ b/code/template/helper/grid.php
@@ -179,7 +179,6 @@ public function sort($config = array())
         $config->append(array(
             'title'     => '',
             'column'    => '',
-            'direction' => 'asc',
             'sort'      => '',
             'url'       => null
         ));
@@ -191,13 +190,13 @@ public function sort($config = array())
             $config->title = ucfirst($config->column);
         }
 
-        //Set the direction
-        $direction  = strtolower($config->direction);
-        $direction  = in_array($direction, array('asc', 'desc')) ? $direction : 'asc';
+        //Get the direction
+        $direction = substr( $config->sort, 0, 1 ) == '-' ? 'desc' : 'asc';
+        $sort      = ltrim($config->sort, '-');
 
         //Set the class
         $class = '';
-        if($config->column == $config->sort)
+        if($config->column == $sort)
         {
             $direction = $direction == 'desc' ? 'asc' : 'desc'; // toggle
             $class = 'class="-koowa-'.$direction.'"';
@@ -208,16 +207,15 @@ public function sort($config = array())
             $config->url = HttpUrl::fromString($config->url);
         }
 
-        $config->url->query['sort']      = $config->column;
-        $config->url->query['direction'] = $direction;
+        $config->url->query['sort'] = $direction == 'asc' ? $config->column : '-'.$config->column;
 
         $html  = '<a href="'.$config->url.'" title="'.$translator->translate('Click to sort by this column').'"  '.$class.'>';
         $html .= $translator->translate($config->title);
 
         // Mark the current column
-        if ($config->column == $config->sort)
+        if ($config->column == $sort)
         {
-            if (strtolower($config->direction) === 'asc') {
+            if ($direction == 'asc') {
                 $html .= ' <span class="koowa_icon--sort_up koowa_icon--12"></span>';
             } else {
                 $html .= ' <span class="koowa_icon--sort_down koowa_icon--12"></span>';