Overview:
Miami-based Haitian-owned magnificence model Ébène, based by Fayola Nicaisse in 1999, is in its third yr of an initiative supporting Haitian entrepreneurs and artisans affected by ongoing political violence and financial instability in Haiti. The model is internet hosting a sequence of U.S. pop-up occasions in partnership with Haitian diaspora organizations, with upcoming stops in Washington D.C., Miami and Boston.
As Haiti’s economic system continues to wrestle amid ongoing gang violence and political instability, one Miami-based magnificence model is doubling down on its effort to maintain Haitian entrepreneurship alive on this aspect of the Atlantic.
Ébène, the Haitian-owned plant-based magnificence firm based in 1999 by Fayola Nicaisse, introduced it’s persevering with and increasing its initiative to help Haitian entrepreneurs and artisans, now in its third yr. The model kicked off its newest spherical of occasions with a pop-up in Silver Spring, Md., final month and has upcoming stops deliberate in Washington, D.C., Miami and Boston by way of the autumn.
The initiative is organized in partnership with the Association of Haitian Professionals, the Embassy of Haiti, the U.S. Haitian Chamber of Commerce and the Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center.
In accordance with Nicaisse, the urgency of the hassle has solely grown as situations in Haiti worsen. Collaborating companies have had warehouses vandalized, misplaced staff to violence and, in no less than one case, been pressured to close down totally after being unable to ship stock to the USA.
“As a enterprise proprietor myself, it hurts me to look at them lose a lot as a result of instability,” Nicaisse mentioned in a press release. “Regardless of these setbacks, the dedication to uplifting Haitian entrepreneurship stays unwavering.”
The World Financial institution reported earlier this yr that Haiti’s real GDP fell 2.7 percent in 2025, with the economic system declining throughout all sectors, and that almost half the nation’s inhabitants lives on lower than $3 a day. It’s that backdrop that has made the pop-ups an more and more very important outlet for companies which have few different choices to succeed in clients overseas.
This yr’s taking part manufacturers alongside Ébène embrace Kay Atizan, Café Rebo, Assortment 1804 and Jiga Sweets, amongst others. Every occasion is designed to showcase Haitian craftsmanship throughout classes together with artwork, pure magnificence, conventional clothes, confectionaries and delicacies.
Past the pop-ups, Ébène reinvests a portion of its proceeds into schooling and extracurricular packages for youth in Haiti, rooted within the nation’s nationwide motto, L’Union Fait La Power — “Unity Makes Us Robust.”
“I’m deeply dedicated to supporting the Haitian neighborhood and my fellow entrepreneurs throughout these difficult occasions,” Nicaisse mentioned. “We’re not solely creating alternatives for these companies to thrive, but additionally celebrating the sweetness, resilience, and cultural legacy of Haiti.”
That dedication tracks with how Nicaisse has lengthy described the model’s broader mission. “Ébène is greater than a magnificence model,” she informed The Haitian Instances in a earlier interview. “It’s about celebrating pure magnificence whereas defending good well being and the planet.”
Nicaisse launched Ébène out of her residence kitchen after struggling to seek out chemical-free merchandise suited to Black pores and skin and hair whereas working as a trend mannequin in Haiti within the Nineties.
“The wonder merchandise made for white customers’ pores and skin tones and hair had been of top of the range,” she mentioned. “Nevertheless, these merchandise didn’t meet the wants of Black and brown pores and skin and hair sorts.”It’s a spot that clients beforehand informed The Haitian Instances they felt personally. A number of South Florida consumers described years of injury from chemical-based merchandise earlier than turning to Ébène, one saying the model helped her hair get better its pure well being after perms left it severely broken, one other crediting it with therapeutic pores and skin so dry it had begun to crack. That very same sense of objective now extends past her personal model.