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How to be culturally competent when supporting LGBTQ+ Muslims
What does 'coming out' really mean? We're told (usually in the Western world) that it represents liberation, freedom, an immediate reduction in stress and isolation - a promise of having a weight lifted off your shoulders. And then only after 'coming out' can a person...
New HIV Variant Reveals It’s Crucial To Keep Talking About HIV/AIDS And Lift The Stigma
An aggressive HIV variant has been discovered, which if left untreated, could progress quickly to AIDS within two to three years, say researchers. The variant, called VB, was detected by European researchers who identified an unusual cluster of HIV cases in the...
Kim K’s Favourite Designer Donates Bags Worth Bragging About!
He’s been described as a powerful emerging force in today's creative world, a provocateur who’s redefined the concept of couture in the 21st century. Yet, as creative director at Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia is more modest about himself, declaring, “It’s just that I...
Gigi Hadid loves us!
Gigi Hadid Loves Designers against AIDS! Here she's wearing a T-shirt designed by Marc Jacobs, with a print of Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne that was part of a series benefitting DAA. We still have a signed one here at the office- let us know if you're...
Musician And Top Model Josh Beech Supports DAA
Musician and top model Josh Beech (who modelled in the 3th Fashion against AIDS campaign in 2010 together with Lou Doillon and Elizabeth Jagger) played at Proud Gallery in London with his band Hildamay, while wearing a Designers against AIDS festival tee. Thanks for...
Belgian Model Hanne Gaby Odiele On What It Means To Be Intersex
When Hanne Gaby Odiele was two weeks old, she developed an infection. Her parents took her to the hospital near their native Kortrijk, Belgium; the doctors did some blood work—and then they informed Franke and Annie Termote that their little boy was going to be just...
Audrey Kitching
We never had such a sugar sweet friend before! American model & designer Audrey Kitching is an internet icon and phenomenon amongst youngsters, inspiring them with her unique look and straightforward lifestyle. From winning awards from the International Modeling...
Higher Models Joined MAA
We are happy to announce the participation of Higher Models (Mexico). "When I was contacted by DAA inviting me to support the MAA project I started to investigate it. I found out it's a big and international project composed of very interesting and young people. This...
Miss Switzerland Candidates Pose In FAA Tees
Sixteen of Switzerland's most beautiful young women, ranging in age between 18 and 25 years old, posed for this photo wearing 'Fashion against AIDS' T-shirts designed by Dita Von Teese, Katy Perry, Róisín Murphy, Estelle, Cyndi Lauper, N.E.R.D, Robyn, Yoko Ono, Yelle,...
MAA On Facebook
Because we feel that it’s high time that models can also be seen as models with a responsible behaviour, we started the Models Against AIDS group on Facebook and via our website last year. Famous ‘Faces of MAA’ are Belgian topmodels Elise Crombez, Anouck Lepère and...
Topmodel Hannelore Knuts Models For DAA
Doesn't she just look fabulous wearing one of our shirts and spreading the safe sex message? We sure think so! After make-up artist Inge Grognard took care of her hair and make-up, photographer Michael James O'Brien pictured topmodel Hannelore Knuts, our brand new...
Lonneke Engel Supports DAA
The captivating Dutch fashion model Lonneke Engel supports our cause endlessly - that's why she modelled our Katherine Hamnett T-shirt from the Fashion Against Aids 2009 collection for her covershoot with Dutch fashion mag Jackie(September issue). As Lonneke has been...
Thou Shall Not Be A Hot Mess
Since the Gay Pride is going around, Grindr ( an all-male location-based social network) released the ‘ten commandments of the Pride’. We were particularly happy about commandment VII: ‘Thou shall spread the love safely’ and commandment VIII: ‘Thou shall be prepared’...
Pop Culture Is The Way Forward Says Condom Summit
On June 26 the 2013 Condom Summit was held in Boston at the Institute of Fanway Health - one of the main organizers together with Victory Programs. The summit, with the title 'Condoms As Community Care', discussed several issues concerning the education on safe sex...
Act Up! It’s Not Just A Slogan
Today's entry is about Act Up!, an advocacy group born in 1987 at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York. The name stands for AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, which means that these people worked their a** off to have a direct impact on lives of...
HIV Infection Returns In Mississippi Baby Thought Cured
Girl born with HIV and seemingly cured with medications, now has had detectable levels of the virus return at the age of 3 1/2. Disappointed federal officials Thursday announced that a nearly 4-year-old Mississippi girl, thought to have been cured of HIV, now has...
The Best Early Christmas Present Is A Test
Today marks the first day of European HIV testing week and the World Aids Day is just around the corner. Get your Christmas present early this year and get tested. There are nearly 22,000 people in the UK alone who are unaware they are living with HIV - that is 25% of...
Use A Condom, Say UNFPA, WHO And UNAIDS
On July 7, UNAIDS, WHO and UNFPA have released a communal statement about the use of condoms to prevent HIV infections and other STD's and unplanned pregnancies. It's a bit of a read, but it's very enlightening. Condoms are a critical component in a comprehensive and...
A Message From Dila Amalia
In a week where certain groups in Indonesia want to stop supermarkets selling condoms because teenagers might buy them too (which WE think is brilliant and very responsible behavior) and want to stop the growth of the LGBT community because many people feel that they...
Take The Insti HIV Self Test, Just Like Prince Harry
Getting tested for HIV on a regular basis is important and nowadays nothing could be easier or more discreet, as you can now buy the Insti Test and do it at home. The test comes with a very clear manual and gives you a direct result: if negative (1 blue dot),...
What do you get when you cross a fashion designer with a biomedical engineer?
This month, DAA caught up with fashion graduate Evelyn Lebis, one of the four founding members of Saturday Light Fever, a synergistic collaboration between two left and two right brainers, to discuss their latest project. Evelyn Lebis and Laura Clausen, completing...
Dear Jonah
A few days ago, a boy named Jonah Mowry, posted a video on YouTube which has already reached a million hits. Jonah's story, told on hand written cards placed infront of the viewer one by one, describes how he has been bullied since 1st grade. He describes the names...
A Very Emotional Letter
Today I received this very touching letter from a friend/photographer from Brussels and he wanted me to share this with all of you. We hope that it will inspire you to be safe(r) from now on - HIV is closer than you think and until there's a cure... Well, you know the...
This Porn Star Always Plays It Safe!
The first porn star we interviewed at the Berlin Porn Festival 2006 was Marcel Schlutt: a German fashion model, photographer and columnist. This guy has a lot of qualities, for besides being a model he is also a star in gay porn. He became known in the early 2000s as...
HIV And AIDS In The Media
Few diseases have been more misunderstood, feared and reviled than HIV and AIDS. HIV leads to a large amount of illness and many deaths, but it’s especially unique from most other diseases because there is stigma and discrimination surrounding those affected with the...
Mighty Safe = Mighty Smart
Designers against Aids loves projects that are trying to break down the stigma around carrying and using condoms! Terrence Kelleman, founder of DYNOMIGHTY and the creative force behind the Mighty Wallet brand, is now turning his attention towards safe sex by designing...
South African President Zuma Wants A Tattoo On All People With HIV
South African president Jacob Zuma has reportedly signed a controversial law which is aimed at fighting HIV. This is very important, as South Africa has the biggest and most high profile HIV epidemic in the world. Jacob Zuma, born in 1942, is the president of the...
Saatchi & Saatchi And Vangardist Want To End Stigma With 3000 Issues Printed With Ink Infused With HIV+ Blood
Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland made a new campaign for Vangardist, which is a a leading German men’s monthly. The magazine invites its readers to take a hands-on approach to end the social stigma surrounding HIV. The campaign is made because of the event ‘Life...
Is Fashion As Gay-Friendly As It Seems?
I read the article on Dazed named ‘Is fashion as gay-friendly as it seems’. I actually always thought the fashion world was very gay friendly, as it is a very open-minded world. But when I read this article, it appeared I was wrong. Last week, DKNY campaign stars John...
DAA T-shirts Customised By Designers & Artists
Since 2005 we ask famous and emerging designers and artists such as Tim Van Steenbergen, La Casita de Wendy, Chicks on Speed and Ion Fiz to customise existing DAA t-shirts, often with wonderful results. Please have a look here to see the still growing collection. Are...
FAA Launch Event New York City
At this very moment the 'Fashion against AIDS' event in New York City is taking place in H&M 5th avenue/51st Street, with Rihanna signing and being interviewed by the US media. As none of us could be there, we're being represented by Corinna Springer and Peter...
United Nations gives Cyndi Lauper the first social justice prize for her LGBTQ work
American singer Cyndi Lauper, who is set to win the United Nations' new social justice award, said on Wednesday that her drive to end LGBT+ homelessness began in support of family and friends. Best known for her '80s-era pop hits, Lauper will receive the United...
The ‘Fashion Against AIDS’ Campaign’s Been Nominated For A Webby Award
Great news: the Fashion against AIDS campaign (created by Great Works in Stockholm) that accompanied our coop with H&M was nominated for a Webby Award in the category 'Activism'. You can check the whole list of winners online. The Webby Awards is the leading...
Worrying New HIV/AIDS Figures In The US Revealed
The United States, where 1.2 million Americans are currently living with the HIV/AIDS virus, is one of the countries most affected. And new rates show that the number of HIV/AIDS new infections is much higher than the U.S. government was expecting: the country had...
Look what Robert Smith (The Cure) designed for us!
One of our most popular products is the long sleeved, black (duh!) T-shirt with a print designed by Robert Smith, singer and guitar player of The Cure. He made an illustration of him and his wife with the text 'Whatever words I say, I will always love you'. Sense...
A message from UNAIDS for Human Rights Day
By Winnie Byanyima Executive Director of UNAIDS Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Human rights are key to ending AIDS and have been at the heart of every struggle and every success we have had since the beginning of the epidemic. Without us demanding our...
Creatives for a Better World
After running our education center in Antwerp for almost a decade, we have decided to take the concept fully online later this year and we couldn’t be more excited if we tried! The concept of our education center was to use pop culture in all its forms to educate...
UNAIDS welcomes government’s decision to make PrEP available across England
UNAIDS warmly welcomes the decision made to make pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) available to everyone who needs it in England. Activists and advocates have been campaigning for a number of years to make the life-saving preventative HIV medicine available to people at...
Fantastic News!
Instead of having to take a pill every day, men and transgender women can now also opt for an injection every two months! UNAIDS warmly welcomes the announcement that the long-acting injectable cabotegravir is safe and effective in preventing HIV among gay men and...
AIDS remains the leading cause of death of women of reproductive age
Ahead of International Women’s Day, UNAIDS has launched a new report showing that the stark inequalities and inequities between men and women are continuing to make women and girls more vulnerable to HIV. We’ve got the power urges governments to do more to empower...
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Ninette Murk
Ninette Murk is the founder and creative director of Designers Against AIDS and a journalist from Antwerp, Belgium.