“I hope it doesn’t rain” – Stella Jean
Jean faced a tight deadline to get the uniforms ready after being required to make last minute changes.
She nearly gave up on the project, which she had taken up for free, before deciding to persevere.
“For 24 hours, I said, ‘It’s over; they won’t have any uniform,’” she said.
“But then I also thought that what brought us here was Haitian art, Haitian culture, Haitian excellence. So many human factors that helped us to be there.”
And so she took to work.
“Five days ago, they started to [hand] paint all the uniforms, and yesterday night I brought them myself in Milan from the other regions,” she said on Thursday (5 February).
There is though, she admits, one lingering concern. The uniforms are made from synthetic material, and rain could cause the paint to run.
“I just pray that it doesn’t rain,” she laughed.
Weather is beyond anyone’s control. What Haiti could shape, they have delivered with aplomb. And whatever unfolds on the snow for Viano and Savart, the country will have already made its mark, through fashion, art and culture.
