Stella Jean

Stella Jean has 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 is 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.

Jean's past LDN missions have included Peru, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Pakistan and others expeditions in South America, Africa and Asia.

Stella Jean is the first and only Italian fashion designer to take to the stage at a BLM protest (this took place in June of 2020) and to, in her own words, publicly denounce the existence of racial discrimination within the country of Italy.[9][10][11][12][13] [14][15][16][17][18]

Stella Jean's designs reflect her Creole heritage, and she often works with Haitian and African artisans, incorporating their work into her fashions. Through her use of native craftspeople, she seeks to support struggling countries and communities and preserve their ancestral arts and traditions. She works with industry to generate commercial enterprise and self-sustaining local communities, focusing on women's empowerment.[19] She began her partnership with Ethical Fashion Initiative in 2013 when she extended her reach into a wider range of ethical produced items like bespoke Bogolan (mud-cloth) from Mali and jewelry from Haiti.[20] Stella Jean is a self-taught Italian-Haitian designer. Her desire is to make ethically sound clothes by helping the less advantaged women in the world. By doing so she will be able to create bold and colorful clothing inside and out. Her designs have been worn by celebrities like Rihanna and Beyoncé. She uses her mother's maiden name for her brand.[1]