For Fall/Winter 2025–2026, Stella Jean delivers a collection that transcends the runway, emerging as a profound act of cultural dialogue and defiance. Aesthetic Coup d’État unfolds as a deeply personal narrative, photographed on location in Cap-Haïtien, a setting that carries the weight of history and the immediacy of present-day struggle.

Drawing on her Haitian and Italian heritage, Jean collaborates with local artisans facing the collapse of homes and livelihoods amid escalating violence. The result is a collection that is both politically charged and emotionally resonant, embodying resilience through craft. Masculine European tailoring is reimagined with Haitian artistry: crisp, striped poplin shirts disrupted by appliquéd bandanas; trench coats in muted tones transformed into hand-painted canvases; waists cinched to create silhouettes that move with structured ease.

Accessories serve as cultural anchors: old Creole earrings, bold and circular, evoking heritage and strength, and an elongated ceremonial headpiece reinterpreted by Haitian fashion luminary Michel Chataigne. The palette, grounded in khakis, creams, and soft blues, is punctuated with color as a framing device, lending vibrancy without overpowering the design’s balance.

Jean’s work here refuses to separate beauty from conscience. In reclaiming the influence of Pepe and the influx of secondhand Western clothing that reshaped Haiti’s fashion landscape, she builds a new visual language, dismantling colonial codes while embracing the complexity of cultural exchange.

Aesthetic Coup d’État is not just a seasonal statement; it is fashion as witness, as reclamation, and as resistance. Jean reminds us that when rooted in integrity, design has the power to both dress the body and awaken the world.