Stella Jean’s Haiti Olympic Uniforms Prove Fashion Still Carries Power

When Haiti’s two-member delegation enters the stadium for the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games, the moment will be brief. The symbolism embedded in their uniforms, however, is designed to last.

The looks were created by Stella Jean, the Italian-Haitian designer whose work blends Italian tailoring with Afro-Caribbean visual language. Details of the uniforms and their development were first reported by the Miami Herald, based on interviews with Jean and Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié.

Jean previously designed Haiti’s uniforms for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics — now part of the Olympic Museum’s permanent collection — and returned for the Winter Games with a concept rooted once again in Haitian history and art. Her starting point was a mixed-media painting by Duval-Carrié depicting revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture charging forward on a red horse, sword in hand. In the artwork, the blade transforms into a serpent, a reference to Danbala, a Vodou spirit associated with wisdom, balance and continuity.

For Jean, the image distilled the essence of Haitian identity: endurance, resistance and cultural memory. That vision, however, collided with Olympic regulations late in the process. The International Olympic Committee ruled that the depiction of Toussaint Louverture violated its ban on political, religious or racial messaging on official uniforms, forcing a last-minute redesign.

Rather than abandon the idea, Jean refined it. Toussaint himself was removed, but the red horse remains, mid-charge, set against a saturated tropical landscape. The color palette draws directly from Haiti’s flag — red and blue — while “Haiti” is emblazoned across the back of the jackets. The result is a uniform that communicates national identity without explicit iconography.

The redesign unfolded under intense pressure and without a formal budget. Jean enlisted Italian artisans she has collaborated with across her own collections to hand-paint the uniforms — an unusual approach for Olympic kits typically defined by mass production and technical materials. The fabric posed challenges, but the human touch was non-negotiable. Craft, rather than efficiency, became the message.

Jean extended the narrative beyond the athletes themselves. Members of the wider delegation will wear headwraps inspired by the tignon, a garment imposed on enslaved African women in colonial Saint-Domingue and later reclaimed as an expression of autonomy and style. Skirts with functional pockets reference the clothing worn by Haiti’s market vendors, underscoring the dignity of everyday labor. Each element carries deliberate historical meaning.

The choice of Toussaint Louverture as the original reference point was intentional. While interpretations of Haiti’s revolutionary figures vary, Toussaint remains one of the country’s most unifying symbols. A formerly enslaved man turned military strategist, he led the uprising that dismantled French colonial rule before dying imprisoned in France in 1803, just months before Haiti declared independence as the world’s first Black republic.

Duval-Carrié has described the removal of Toussaint as overly cautious, but emphasized the importance of any global platform for Haitian culture. The artist will represent Haiti at the Venice Biennale later this year, extending that visibility beyond sport and into contemporary art.

That visibility carries particular weight now. Haiti arrives at the Games amid deepening political instability, widespread violence and the erosion of public infrastructure. Even sports facilities for children have not been spared. Against this backdrop, the Olympic appearance — however fleeting — takes on heightened significance.

The athletes themselves reflect Haiti’s diasporic reality. Alpine skier Richardson Viano, 23, competed at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the country’s first Winter Olympian. He is joined in Milan by cross-country skier Savart, 25. Both were raised outside Haiti and are part of a small ski federation formed in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.

Their appearance during the opening ceremony is expected to last less than 10 seconds.

For Jean, that is enough. The uniforms are not designed to narrate Haiti’s history in full, but to assert presence — transforming bodies into symbols and clothing into a visual language that speaks without words.

In a moment when Haiti is often framed through crisis, the uniforms offer a counterpoint. If institutions are fragile and resources depleted, culture remains resilient. Art, craftsmanship and design endure as some of the country’s most powerful exports.

Karibbean Kollective