Designers Against Aids

Former fashion journalist Ninette Murk founded the nonprofit organisation Designers Against AIDS (DAA) in 2004 with the aim of raising awareness in the international media by attracting models, designers, musicians and celebrities for their campaigns. Curiously based in Antwerp, DAA are using some of the money from their annual H&M projects and they are renovating a building that will host the (IHARC) International HIV/Aids awareness education centre and their new headquarters. Dazed talks to Murk and Javier Barcala, photographer, creative director, music journalist and the other half of DAA.

Dazed Digital: In the early days, you called on your network to help you get DAA off the ground. Who were the first to jump in?

DAA: First was Umbro by Kim Jones. I did PR for the Benelux and Germany for them at the time and they sponsored the tees, the printing… everything from the first season. As for the designers, Bernhard Willhelm was one of the first, as were Robert Smith from The Cure, Faithless, and Chicks on Speed.

DD: How did the DAA start?
DAA: Designers against AIDS (DAA) was launched in 2004, with the specific goal of raising AIDS/HIV awareness in the international media and today's worldwide society, specifically aiming the awareness towards youngsters living in the industrialised countries. DAA makes an appeal to its network of artists, celebrities and designers, who contribute by spreading the organisation's message, supporting DAA through a range of projects and uniting as Friends of DAA.

DD: Your current project is Knitting Against Aids. Tell us more about it.
DAA: We want as many people as we can find to start knitting an exclusive scarf, that will be decorated with a unique label and sold as a fundraising product during the Take-Care-Week (the week before World AIDS Day) in Antwerp. All net proceeds will be donated to our cause and to the Care-for-AIDS Fund. Famous fashion designers and artists will also take part in this amazing event by creating their very own scarf, for which we will organize a special auction.

DD: You have involved celebrities like Dita Von Teese, Rihanna, Chicks on Speed, Henrik Vibskov, N*E*R*D, Justice,and many more. Tell us a bit more about these collaborations.
DAA: We’ve been doing this from the start of 2001, long before we started working with H&M. And most celebrities loved to participate and so did the press. Some only do it for the publicity or to promote a new record, but even then it’s very efficient to get the messages across to a young public.

DD: DAA have already launched two collections with H&M. How did they come about?
DAA: We’re good at persuading celebs and media love about our work, but we aren’t good at manufacturing, distributing and selling shirts (and other projects) - and H&M is very good at this. I think it’s great of them to recognise the possibilities of partnering up with us and it's also quite courageous as by taking this step, they ask their customers to take a look at their own sexual behaviour. As opposed to for instance, Product (RED), where you buy products and help people who live on the other side of the world, but at the same time you can still continue to have unsafe sex with a good conscience and not feel any discrepancies between your acts and your behaviour. I find this very bizarre.

DD: What is going on with DAA in the future?
DAA: Wait and see! We have loads of plans, both when it comes to new projects and with our education centre, where we’ll invite young people from all over the world to do workshops with us so they can use local pop culture for safe sex campaigns when they return home.

Photos courtesy of DAA