By Kerane Marcellus ·Updated February 5, 2026 /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
When I think of Haiti, winter is the last thing to come to mind. Nevertheless, two skiers, Richardson Viano and Stevenson Savart, are competing in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games. Haiti has a brief history in the Winter Olympics, with it being four years since Viano became the first athlete to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. So designer Stella Jean’s uniform designs for the athletes had to make a powerful statement.
This isn’t Jean’s first time designing Haiti’s Olympic uniforms. The Italian designer with Haitian roots on her maternal side was commissioned by the Haitian Olympic Committee general director, Patrick Blanchet, for the 2024 Paris Olympics to create uniforms that convey Haiti’s resilience. This year is no exception. Jean’s designs have gone viral online, with many Haitians expressing their pride.
“Haiti’s presence at the Winter Olympics is a symbol, it is a statement, not a coincidence,” Haiti’s ambassador to Italy, Gandy Thomas, expressed in an interview with the AP. “We may not be a winter country, but we are a nation that refuses to be confined by expectation. Absence
Author: Victoria Uwumarogie
Read the original article on Essence.