Stella Jean

Stella Jean is a Haitian Italian designer. Recognized as the first Black Italian designer. Stella Jean is the first and only BIPOC member of the Italian Fashion Chamber since its foundation in 1958. The basis of Jean's work is multiculturalism applied to ethical fashion, resulting in a cultural fusion of her own métisse identity. Her work often merges classical Italian tailoring with stylistic features of varying cultures. Stella Jean created the business model and sustainable development platform: "Laboratorio delleNazioni". In 2019 she was highlighted by the New York Times as the most convincing of all the New Gen designers in Milan.

Stella Jean has created and built the business model and sustainable development platform entitled: “Laboratorio delle Nazioni”. It focuses on what occurs when fashion becomes a tool for cooperative international development. Through missions on the field, each SJ collection is the result of the construction of a cultural bridge between Italian design and the women artisans of a developing country during each different season. An international cooperation between Jean’s aesthetic and the

Artisans of developing countries are an ever-present staple of her designs, which aim to promote cultural heritage as an enabler and a driver of sustainable development. Despite the thousands of miles of distance that may lie between them, countless hands of women artisans in different countries work together in an ideal Laboratory of Nations, with the common goal of caring and preserving an endangered global cultural heritage. In so doing, these women are building their own economic

autonomy, preserving their own traditions, and at the same time gaining a small seat at the global market table.

These missions are officially supported from time to time by the various entities such as: Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Trade of various countries cooperating with the coordination of the United Nations. Jean’s past LDN missions have included Peru, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Pakistan and other expeditions in South America, Africa and Asia.

Jean resides in Rome, Italy with her two children and is a proud Advisory Board member of the Haitian Women’s Alliance.