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Stella Jean’s latest collection, Aesthetic Coup d’État, is less a season’s offering than a cultural exchange. Created with Haitian artisans—many displaced by violence but unbroken in spirit—the project honours resilience through collaboration. “These are my Buffalo Soldiers,” Jean said, invoking Marley’s metaphor for her partners in craft.
Shot in Cap-Haïtien, the collection revisits Haiti’s fraught history with Western dress codes and the influx of secondhand clothing, or Pepe. Jean reinterprets Eurocentric staples with Haitian artistry: striped poplin shirts marked by hand-sewn bandanas, trench coats transformed into painted canvases, and hats reimagined in bold, sculptural proportions—including one crafted overnight by master designer Michel Chataigne.
Accessories carried equal weight: oversized Creole hoops signaled identity and strength, while wide belts cinched sharp yet fluid silhouettes. Color punctuated restraint, grounding the pieces in both rigor and vibrancy.
More than fashion, Jean frames the collection as a megaphone for visibility. “Maybe fashion can be something more again,” she reflects—an instrument of survival, solidarity, and shared beauty.