Under the Ecuadorian Sun: Stephany Hollihan

When the jetsetting Stephany Hollihan returned in 2010 to her native Guayaquil, a bustling port city on Ecuador’s coast, after a decade of travels, the airport staff assumed she was a visitor. “They don’t think I know Spanish… but I know what they’re saying,” she says with a laugh. While her blonde hair and blue eyes may trick security guards, Hollihan is a dyed-in-the-wool Ecuadorian, and Sensi Studio, her line of accessories, tweaks the country’s chic style for an international market. “My idea for Sensi Studio is to offer an artisanal product with a current approach for any fashion savvy customer, showing the world what we have to offer here on the equator,” she says.

Paris’s Colette picked up Hollihan’s very first collection of authentic Panama hats, woven palm-fiber fedoras updated with brush-stroke flourishes in black and fuchsia. Upon her return, she started searching for interesting products and fell in love with the hats. As her order book grows, Hollihan will add products to Sensi Studio’s lineup. She’s making macana scarves for fall. “They’re made through a centuries-old tradition of knotting and natural dying, in addition to heavier-duty wool caps produced in a factory that opened in 1942,” she says.

SENSI STUDIO ACCESSORIES ARE AVAILABLE AT TOMAS MAIER BOUTIQUES WORLDWIDE, COLETTE IN PARIS, AND MATCHES IN LONDON.