For AW16, Essentiel Antwerp has teamed up with Designers Against AIDS (DAA). The result is a capsule collection inspired by punk couture and 90s club culture with the profits of the sales going to DAA to create awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Creative Director Inge Onsea considers it essential to support organizations such as DAA. She was influenced by ‘punk couture’ and 90s club culture — perhaps unsurprisingly, this is the period in which the fight against HIV/AIDS took on a broader social meaning. Icons such as Boy George, Keith Haring, Stephen Sprouse and Leigh Bowery along with drag queens and club kids were all drawn on as sources of inspiration for the collection.
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Designers Against AIDS
Designers Against AIDS is an initiative launched by non-profit organization Beauty Without Irony. To create awareness about HIV/AIDS among young people, DAA uses pop culture and current interests such as fashion, music, celebrities, social media and others to communicate the following message:
"If you are old enough to have sex, you are old enough to have safe sex."
