Stella Jean

In December 2021 Stella Jean was appointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in recognition of her work with UN Mountain Partnership women artisans.

In 2021, the We Are Made In Italy (WAMI)movement was founded by Jean, and co-founded by Edward Buchanan and Michelle Francine Ngonmo. For the first time in the history of Italian fashion, the National Chamber of Italian Fashion (CNMI) has set up a work group composed of professionals in the industry of African descent. It is currently an official work group of the Italian Fashion Council.

Stella Jean is the first and only Italian fashion designer to take to the stage at a BLM protest in June 2020 and to, in her own words, publicly denounce the existence of racial discrimination within the country of Italy.

The inspiration for this initiate began in July 2020, with the above question posed by Stella Jean, the first and only Afro-descendent member of the Italian Fashion Chamber, regarding the lack of the presence of designers of African descent in Italian fashion. In the months that followed, which were intense with dialogue and discussion, a team was built, and with determination and strength, it has provided material for reflection, solutions and projects for the sector as well as for the social fabric of the country. The initiatives focus is to help create opportunities for minorities in the Italian fashion industry, as well as with developing programming to help foster equity and inclusion across the industry.

The basis of Jean's work is multiculturalism applied to fashion, resulting in a cultural fusion of her own métisse identity. Her work often merges classical Italian tailoring with stylistic features of varying cultures. Stella Jean created the business model and sustainable development platform: "Laboratorio delle Nazioni". In 2019 she was highlighted by the New York Times as the most convincing of all the New Gen designers in Milan.

Stella attended as a speaker on the “Power of Empowered Women” discussion panel at the Palace of Nations and, on the same day, presented her garments created in collaboration with the United Nations ethical fashion program at the World Trade Organization (WTO). She also participated in the Global Fashion Capitals exposition at the FIT Museum in New York, exhibiting one of her Autumn | Winter 2018 creations.

In April 2014 she was selected by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to exhibit several outfits in its Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014 exhibition.

In 2013, Giorgio Armani asked her to showcase her designs in the Armani/Teatro space during Milano Moda Donna for Fashion Week SS14. For Jean's spring/summer 2014 collection, she collaborated with the International Trade Centre's Ethical Fashion Initiative. As a result, the printed fabrics for this collection were sustainably sourced, hand-crafted and aimed at helping trade workers in disadvantaged communities in Africa. She also collaborated on shoes with Christian Louboutin for her AW14 collection, which featured her first menswear collection.

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. 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. 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 , Beyoncé, Zendaya, Viola Davis, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Selena Gomez. She uses her mother's maiden name for her brand.

Jean began receiving attention at Vogue Italia’s "Who Is On Next" contest in 2011 when she won second place. When making her fashion brand, she decided to use her mothers maiden name Jean, instead of her birth surname Novarino.

Stella Novarino, known professionally as Stella Jean (/ˈstɛlə ˈʒɒn, -ˈʒɒ̃/; born 1979), is an Italian fashion designer of partial Haitian origin. She is a member of the Italian Chamber of Fashion and the only member of Afro-European background. Living and working in Rome, Jean is considered to be Giorgio Armani's protégé.