Stella Jean Team Haiti’s Opening Ceremony Uniforms for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games

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Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean designed the hand-painted uniforms for Haiti’s Winter Olympic team, drawing inspiration from Haitian-American artist Edouard Duval-Carrié‘s painting of the revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture.

From the highest peaks of the Caribbean to the heart of the Dolomites.
Haiti makes its debut at Milano–Cortina 2026 with Richardson Viano and Stevenson Savart.
Two athletes.
One nation that refuses to disappear.
These uniforms are not an exercise in style.
They are an act of responsibility.
Every detail is intentional.
Every centimeter of fabric carries the duty to tell a story — and the will to endure.
Made in Italy.
Crafted by former ski champion Pietro Vitalini.
The only hand-painted uniforms at the Games,
inspired by the visionary art of Edouard Duval-Carrié.
What you see is not decoration.
It is visibility as a form of survival. – Stella Jean

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Can you talk me through what happened with the International Olympics Committee? You submitted your designs for approval, but then they had to be changed? 

Stella Jean: Yes. On January 4, I was informed that the sketch we submitted did not comply with Olympic regulations. For 24 hours, I was in total despair. We had no budget, no time and this was our only chance in years to showcase Haiti in a positive light. We all worked for free for this project. The athletes have just one uniform, there is no second uniform – they have to keep it clean until the end of the Olympics.

Then I remembered the words of my Haitian mother: ‘In moments of challenge, don’t focus on what is missing, look at what you already have.’ We probably have the smallest budget of all the Olympic delegations, but we might have the most humanity.

It’s thanks to this barrier from the IOC that I was able to create the first Winter Olympics uniform that is completely handpainted. It was born from a barrier, but from it we’ve been able to create a cultural record. The world is talking about us – without a press office. It’s a miracle. There is no wall that can’t be turned into a door.

[Photo Credit: Courtesy of Stella Jean, haitianartsociety.org]

• Stella Jean