Designer Azede Jean-Pierre Shares Photos From Her Haiti Artisan Tour

Backyard views of Bidonville. Photo: Stephanie Maneles

Haitian-born, Atlanta-bred designer Azede Jean-Pierre whose designs have become favorites of former First Lady Michelle Obama and Solange Knowles recently traveled to Haiti since leaving as a child.

Vogue reports,

In partnership with the Clinton Foundation, Jean-Pierre returned to speak to local business owners about female entrepreneurship, tour local artisan collectives, and devise ways to collaborate with a vast network of local creatives. “The stories of these artisans are truly incredible,” she told Vogue. “Seeing the creativity and diversity of their work is awe-inspiring. It is so important to me for them to have an international outlet to show their work to the world, so I am anxious to start sourcing and collaborating and to grow our businesses together.”

Business aside, Azede used the trip as an opportunity to experience the joys of Haiti. Here are a few of her photos shot by her lead Haitian Photographer Sheively Buisson. See full article and more photos here.

Azede Jean-Pierre wearing one of her dresses inspired by Haiti from the last Spring collection in front of Hotel Oloffson. Photo: Sheively Buisson

Azede in front of Paillion. Papillon Enterprise is a socially and ecologically conscious business with a mission of stimulating the Haitian economy by exporting and marketing Haitian artisan goods in the North American and European markets. Papillon’s artisans work with pottery, papermaking, jewelry-making, sewing, and metal art, and the majority of the raw materials are sourced locally. In addition to paying employees a living wage (about three times the minimum wage), it offers social empowerment services including language and literacy development and computer and software training. Photo: Sheively Buisson

Stolen moments with these guys are so very inspiring! My last collection was inspired by their uniforms, and I’m so excited to be redesigning uniforms for nine schools in my hometown of Pestel and one school in Port-au-Prince together with Maryse Pénette-Kedar of Prodev, and Cefadec, an organization based in Pestel. Photo: Sheively Buisson

The Design, Organization, Training Center (DOT) in Port-au-Prince was created by Donna Karan through Urban Zen, with designer Paula Coles, the Parsons School of Design, and Haitian artisans to help bridge Haiti’s traditional techniques with the design innovation needed to succeed in today’s global marketplace. The Haiti Artisan project—an initiative at the DOT—was founded by Karan and promotes economic development through job creation and vocational education, and helps raise awareness and highlights the creativity of Haiti’s artisans. The DOT is dedicated to improving Haitians’ economic opportunities, especially women.Photo: Sheively Buisson

Riding in a tap-tap, or a Haitian taxi. Tap-taps are beautifully painted cars used to transport locals around the city. Only fitting that I dress in a style to match my ride.Photo: Sheively Buisson