Jose Stemkens is a South African-born, Dutch-raised fashion consultant and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known as the founder of Sunrise Fashion Consulting, a firm that helps international fashion brands break into the competitive US market, and as co-founder of Eywasouls Malibu, a luxury beachwear and maxi dress brand.
Beyond her business work, Stemkens gained wider public attention through her marriage to American actor Titus Welliver (Bosch, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), though her professional track record stands entirely on its own.
Her career spans three distinct roles: model, retail sales manager, and strategic consultant — each one building the foundation for the next.
Early Life and Education
Jose Stemkens was born on December 29, 1987, in Tembisa, Gauteng, South Africa. Her family relocated to the Netherlands during her childhood, and she grew up there through her formative years.
She attended Bouwens van der Boijecollege, a secondary school in the Netherlands, where she developed strong academic skills alongside a growing interest in design and visual culture. The Dutch fashion environment — home to brands like G-Star Raw, Scotch & Soda, and Mexx — exposed her early to a commercial fashion culture that blended practicality with aesthetic edge.
After completing secondary school, she transitioned directly into the fashion industry rather than pursuing a traditional university degree, a path common among European fashion professionals who prioritise hands-on experience.
Career Timeline
Starting: Modelling and Retail (Early 2000s–2010)
Stemkens began her professional career as a fashion model in Europe. While she built skills in presentation, styling, and the visual language of fashion, she recognised early that the business side of the industry interested her more than life in front of the camera.
She transitioned into retail and wholesale fashion, taking a position at Mata Hari, a multi-chain fashion retail group in the Netherlands. There, she developed hands-on skills in:
- Sales management and customer relations
- Inventory and wholesale procurement
- Retail floor management across multiple store locations
This grounding in the commercial mechanics of fashion — how clothes move from wholesale to shelf to customer — would become a core part of her consulting value years later.
Building Strategic Experience (2010–2014)
After Mata Hari, Stemkens took on leadership roles at two additional fashion organisations: The Great China Wall and Dept & JC RAGS. These roles gave her exposure to brand positioning, multi-market distribution, and fashion-line management — particularly the operational differences between European and international markets.
It was during this period that she identified a genuine gap: international fashion brands wanted to enter the US market but lacked the contacts, cultural knowledge, and retail infrastructure to do it effectively.
Esprit: Senior Project Management
One of her most structured corporate roles was at Esprit, the global fashion brand founded in San Francisco with a strong European following. Working as a senior project manager, Stemkens contributed to brand operations and cross-functional team coordination — experience that sharpened her understanding of how large fashion organisations run at scale.
Founding Sunrise Fashion Consulting (2014)
In 2014, Stemkens founded Sunrise Fashion Consulting, based in Los Angeles. The firm acts as a strategic bridge between international fashion brands and the US retail and wholesale market.
What the firm does:
- Advises foreign fashion brands on the US market entry strategy
- Builds relationships with US buyers, distributors, and retailers
- Provides brand positioning guidance tailored to American consumer behaviour
- Manages wholesale partnerships and showroom representation
Why it fills a real need:
Many European and Asian fashion brands produce strong products but struggle with the structural differences of the American market, from the buying calendar (US buyers work 6–12 months ahead of season) to regional preferences and sizing conventions. Stemkens’ dual background in European fashion culture and Los Angeles business networks makes her a credible partner for brands navigating that transition.
The firm operates primarily out of Los Angeles, which serves as a practical hub: it hosts one of the largest fashion districts in the US, multiple major trade shows (MAGIC, Agenda, LA Textile), and a direct line to the entertainment industry’s influence on trend adoption.
Co-Founding Eywasouls Malibu (2017)
In 2017, Stemkens co-founded Eywasouls Malibu, a fashion brand positioned around luxury resort and beachwear — specifically long, flowing maxi dresses designed for the Southern California coastal lifestyle.
Brand profile:
- Aesthetic: Bohemian luxury, natural fabrics, coastal-inspired silhouettes
- Market: High-end resort and vacation wear
- Price positioning: Premium segment, targeting fashion-conscious buyers who prioritise quality materials and distinctive design over fast-fashion pricing
- Target customer: Women 30–55 seeking elevated casual beachwear
The Malibu location and branding are deliberate — Malibu functions as an aspirational geography in global fashion and lifestyle marketing, the same way “Hamptons” or “Capri” signals a certain lifestyle bracket to consumers.
Personal Life: Marriage to Titus Welliver
Jose Stemkens married American actor Titus Welliver on April 12, 2014, in a ceremony held in Calabasas, California. Welliver is widely known for playing the lead role in Amazon’s Bosch and its sequel series Bosch: Legacy, as well as recurring roles in Lost and The Good Wife.
The wedding was attended by family members from both sides, including Welliver’s children from previous relationships. Stemkens wore a gown by Hervé Léger, a French-American brand known for its signature bandage-style construction.
The couple separated, and Welliver filed for divorce in April 2019. The divorce was finalised in early 2021.
Divorce Settlement Breakdown
| Asset | Awarded To |
|---|---|
| 2017 Range Rover | Jose Stemkens |
| Six horses | Jose Stemkens |
| Connecticut property | Titus Welliver |
| Bank accounts | Titus Welliver |
| TV/film residuals | Titus Welliver |
| Monthly support (~$27,000/month through the end of 2021) | Jose Stemkens |
| Lump-sum property equalisation ($50,000) | Jose Stemkens |
The settlement reflected the couple’s jointly accumulated assets across their five-year marriage. Stemkens’ retention of the horses aligns with her known interest in equestrian activities and outdoor life.
Jose Stemkens Net Worth
As of available reporting, Jose Stemkens’ estimated net worth is approximately $1 million USD. This figure reflects income from Sunrise Fashion Consulting, her co-ownership stake in Eywasouls Malibu, and the assets she retained from her divorce settlement.
It’s worth noting that fashion consulting revenue is highly variable — it depends on client retainers, project scope, and market conditions — so this figure is an estimate rather than a verified figure from a financial disclosure.
Interests and Personal Life Beyond Fashion
Stemkens is described as having a range of interests that reflect both her artistic sensibility and her connection to the outdoors:
- Drawing and visual art — she sketches regularly, consistent with a background in visual fashion culture
- Equestrian sports — she retained six horses in her divorce settlement, indicating this is a serious long-term interest, not a passing hobby
- Travel — she has travelled extensively across Europe and the United States, which directly feeds into her cross-cultural consulting work
- Reading — with a focus on fashion publications, trade journals, and industry books
These interests aren’t peripheral details — for a fashion consultant, an active visual practice (drawing) and exposure to diverse cultures (travel) are professional assets, not just hobbies.
What Makes Jose Stemkens Notable in Fashion Consulting
Fashion consulting is a crowded field, particularly in Los Angeles. What distinguishes Stemkens’ positioning includes:
- Dual-continent fluency — she understands both European brand culture and the American retail and wholesale ecosystem, a combination that’s genuinely rare among consultants
- Practical retail background — her career started on the shop floor, not in a boardroom, which gives her a grounded perspective on how consumers actually interact with products
- Entrepreneurial track record — founding and co-founding brands demonstrates she can execute, not just advise
- Industry longevity — she has remained active in fashion across two decades and multiple market shifts, including the rise of e-commerce and direct-to-consumer models
Conclusion
Jose Stemkens has built a professional identity that is harder to categorise than most fashion-industry biographies suggest. She is not simply a consultant or simply an entrepreneur — she is someone who has moved through modelling, retail management, corporate project management, and brand-building over roughly two decades, using each role as training for the next.
Her work with Sunrise Fashion Consulting addresses a specific, genuine problem: international brands want US distribution but lack the local knowledge and relationships to achieve it. That specificity — solving a real problem in a real market — is what distinguishes a durable consulting practice from one that relies on personal celebrity alone.
For readers researching her background: her career is more substantive than the celebrity-adjacent coverage of her marriage tends to suggest, and understanding what she has built professionally provides a fuller picture of who she is.
FAQs
Where is Jose Stemkens from?
She was born in Tembisa, Gauteng, South Africa, and grew up in the Netherlands. She is currently based in Los Angeles, California.
What does Jose Stemkens do for work?
She runs Sunrise Fashion Consulting, a Los Angeles-based firm that advises international fashion brands on entering the US market. She also co-founded Eywasouls Malibu, a luxury maxi dress and beachwear brand.
Who was Jose Stemkens married to?
She was married to American actor Titus Welliver from April 2014 until their divorce was finalised in early 2021.
What is Jose Stemkens’ net worth?
Her estimated net worth is approximately $1 million USD, based on publicly available information about her businesses and divorce settlement.
What is Eywasouls Malibu?
Eywasouls Malibu is a fashion brand co-founded by Stemkens in 2017, specialising in luxury resort wear and long maxi dresses with a bohemian coastal aesthetic.
What did Jose Stemkens receive in her divorce settlement?
She received a 2017 Range Rover, six horses, monthly support payments of approximately $27,000 through the end of 2021, and a $50,000 lump sum to equalise the property split.
Did Jose Stemkens work as a model?
Yes. Early in her career, she worked as a fashion model in Europe before transitioning to wholesale fashion, retail management, and eventually consulting.
Where is Sunrise Fashion Consulting based?
The firm is based in Los Angeles, California.