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In September 2026, Stella Nolasco gave her designs a different assignment. For De Rojo Por La Vida, an exhibition at Plaza Las Américas raising awareness around multiple myeloma, she created four red looks that use fringe, cutouts and transparency to give visual form to symptoms and experiences associated with the blood cancer. Days later, she joins DUAL: Arte y Moda at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, supporting the institution’s exhibition, education and community programs.
The two projects arrive after an important anniversary. In 2025, Nolasco celebrated three decades in fashion, a career distinguished by intricate lace, handwork, beading and a romantic sensuality. Her Spring/Summer capsule, Stella Bohème, looked to the 1970s through fluid silhouettes and bohemian influences. She closed the year with another collection at San Juan Moda’s “Lujo Silencioso” event at the historic Cuartel de Ballajá in Old San Juan.
© Jamie McCarthyDuring the excitement surrounding Bad Bunny’s 2025 residency, she also played with recognizable elements of island culture, incorporating everything from the Puerto Rican flag and national flower to tostones and guayaberas into her designs. It was a playful expression of something that has been present throughout her career: Nolasco has never separated where she comes from from what she creates.
Born in Aguadilla, she studied at Drexel University before continuing her education in Italy through SACI. Her work eventually traveled from San Juan to New York Fashion Week and onto women including Beyoncé, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera, without losing the craftsmanship that first defined her label.
© Noam GalaiThat connection became especially powerful after Hurricane María in 2017. Nolasco’s home flooded, yet one plant in her garden survived: a begonia rex with heart-shaped crimson leaves. It inspired her Fall 2018 New York Fashion Week collection, where models carried Puerto Rican flags and “We Are US Citizens” signs, with proceeds benefiting Foundation for Puerto Rico.
Eight years later, red has returned with a new meaning. This time, Nolasco is using it to draw attention to an illness that can be difficult to recognize. After three decades, her clothes still have something to say, whether they are appearing on a runway, inside a museum or in the middle of a shopping center where anyone can stop and look.
