Haitian Athletes Make A Fashion Statement At The Winter Games

At the Milan Cortina Winter Games, Haitian athletes Richi Viano and Stevenson Savart arrived not only as competitors but also as visual statements, redefining what winter sports representation can look like. Making their Winter Games debut, the athletes stepped into the global spotlight wearing custom Stella Jean originals that fused fashion, heritage, and defiance of expectation.

Stella Jean, the Italian-Haitian designer celebrated for her Afro-diasporic storytelling and ethical craftsmanship, approached the iconic moment as more than ceremonial dressing. Her designs balanced function and form, pairing structured outerwear with vibrant Haitian textile references, layered symbolism, and sharp tailoring. The looks were unapologetically bold, graphic, and intentional, standing in striking contrast to the muted palette traditionally associated with winter athletics.

Every detail carried meaning. From color choices that echoed Haitian identity to silhouettes that conveyed strength and elegance, the garments served as cultural armor. The result was a look that felt equally at home on a fashion runway and an Olympic-scale stage. “These uniforms are not an exercise in style.
They are an act of responsibility,” Stella Jean typed in her Instagram post.
”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 were inspired by the visionary art of Édouard Duval-Carrié.
What you see is not decoration.
It is visibility as a form of survival.”

Haitian Athletes Richi Viano Debut in Stella Jean

For Haiti, a country rarely represented in winter sports, this appearance reframed the narrative. Stella Jean’s designs challenged the aesthetic limits of sportswear itself, presenting a new visual language in which Caribbean heritage is not muted in winter but amplified.

Viano and Savart not only arrived dressed for the cold, but they also arrived wrapped in story, intention, and design excellence. Their Stella Jean debut marked a moment in fashion history when identity, sport, and style met on equal footing, and Haiti claimed space with confidence and undeniable flair.