So, have you been watching the Winter Olympics in Milan? I’ve caught a few segments here and there. Must say I’m kind of into figure skating on ice. They jump and twirl and attempt seemingly dangerous moves and do it with such perfection and grace. I just say wow. 

Well, I was really in awe of the Haitian Olympic competitor’s hand-painted uniforms. There’s only two Haitian athletes competing- Richardson Viano, an alpine skier, and Stevenson Savart, a cross-country skier. Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean created these beautiful costumes that really tell a Haitian story. She also designed the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. 

The costumes were based on a 2006 painting of the formerly enslaved revolutionary Toussaint Louverture riding a horse by the Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié. Stella Jean actually had to redo her original design after being told it did not comply with International Olympic Committee rules on athletic expression. The IOC guidelines stipulate: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” So, they redid the design to only feature the horse.

They also added a traditional headwrap symbolizing how enslaved Africans were forced to cover their hair. Stella worried that the rain forecast might dissolve the paint and reveal Toussaint’s face underneath. In any case, I just love these costumes. What do you think?

Sincerely,

“Fashionably-Late”

Malinda Frances Knowles