Stephany Hollihan

Stephany Hollihan Vasconez was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on 7 September 1984. She held Ecuadorian and United States citizenship. Part of her childhood was spent in boarding schools in Germany and other countries, which she later linked to an open way of seeing the world. After finishing school she moved to Florence to study Italian and art history. There she decided to pursue a creative career in fashion. She then studied fashion design at the Istituto Marangoni in Milan and completed a masters in brand management.

Before founding her own label, Hollihan worked in the United States for about five years as a creative development assistant for the brand of Thomas Meyer, then creative director of Bottega Veneta. The role exposed her to fabric selection, design, production, showrooms and client work. Returning to Ecuador, she founded Sensi Studio in 2010. The first collection of twelve toquilla straw Panama hats was presented in New York and Milan multi brand showrooms. The company grew into an internationally known fashion and accessories label built on local craftsmanship and handmade products, including hats, bags, clothing, totes and jewellery, sold in more than fifteen countries.

Hollihan married Michele Sensi Contugi, an Italian Ecuadorian government minister who later served as director of Ecuador's National Intelligence Center, on 23 May 2008. They had two children. She was godmother to the youngest son of President Daniel Noboa and First Lady Lavinia Valbonesi. In a Harper's Bazaar Ecuador interview published in January 2026 she spoke about authenticity and curiosity as constants in her life and work.

On 19 August 2026 Hollihan was among seven people aboard Eurocopter EC130 5Y-GYM on a scenic flight from a wildlife conservancy at Loisaba toward the Ewaso Ng'iro river. At about 09:13 local time the helicopter crashed in difficult terrain near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, Kenya. The aircraft caught fire and was destroyed. Kenyan authorities confirmed that all seven occupants, six passengers and the pilot, died at the scene. Among those killed was her husband, Michele Sensi Contugi. Ecuador declared three days of national mourning with flags at half mast. She was 41. Investigations into the cause of the crash continued after the accident.

Hollihan is remembered as the founder and creative force behind Sensi Studio, a brand that gave Ecuadorian artisan techniques, especially the toquilla straw hat, a contemporary international audience. Colleagues and the fashion press in Ecuador described her work as a bridge between local craft and modern lifestyle design. The label she built remains the clearest public record of her vision for handmade Ecuadorian fashion on a global stage.