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Irene Ha babyreni.nl

Irene Ha

By 19-10-2022

Every year, Dutch Design Awards (DDA) honours the best Dutch designers and their most impressive and groundbreaking projects. Various disciplines, viewpoints and solutions are judged in light of the impact they have on our society. Dutch Design Awards thereby gives a boost to the profession as a whole. The best Dutch design, viewed in perspective and placed on a pedestal.

DDA nomination 2022 | Young Designer
Irene Ha (Gerrit Rietveld Academy, 2020) sees herself as a multidisciplinary persona and with the brand Baby Reni she represents different identities of the (South-East) Asian diaspora and questions generalising perceptions. Her work is characterised by an explosion of information, colours and textures. With the projects Jetlegged (2020) and Can I Go Out Already (2022 >) Ha explores the contradictions of life between two cultures and redefines what locality and authenticity mean to her. On the internet she found and developed a community – consisting of hobby mums, seamstresses, DJ’s, designers and other artists – and so built a creative universe in which she makes not only clothing but also installations.

Expert jury
Irene Ha is a community builder through and through. She uses everything she sees and brings this back to her community; a safe space where everyone is co-owner and employee. They own, build and sell the Baby Reni brand together. This raises a whole new question about what we need and how we make it. Ha recognises that much of what is produced (sustainably or not), doesn’t need to be made at all and therefore reasons entirely from the needs of the community. Ha uses different platforms that interact with each other and shows a strong visual language that is both touching and humorous.

For more information about the nominees and the DDA Awards Show you can visit www.dutchdesignawards.nl.