where climate action meets the future of design
His work is part of the collection of the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade, and he has received numerous prestigious awards in Serbia for his contribution to contemporary textile art and sustainable design.
Her research challenges conventional boundaries, demonstrating that the future of design lies in nurturing materials rather than extracting them. By bridging the gap between biological systems and functional objects, she redefines unicellular organisms, agricultural residues, and urban waste streams into intelligent, sustainable materials that unite technical innovation with refined aesthetics. As one of the leading voices in Balkan biodesign, Maja is widely recognized for her pioneering work in organic biomaterial synthesis, advocating for regenerative production cycles that eliminate waste at the source.
Since launching her career, she has specialized in unique evening gowns, custom-made couture pieces, and bridal wear. Her design philosophy rejects passing fast-fashion trends, focusing heavily on craftsmanship, intricate details, and genuine emotional expression.
In addition to running her fashion atelier and dressing prominent regional music and style icons, Hasanbegović incorporates her creative expertise into education, balancing entrepreneurship, family life, and her role as a professor. Deeply influenced by the rich culture of her hometown and an early admiration for classic style icons like Audrey Hepburn. While she continues to scale her brand internationally, she does so through conscious, sustainable growth, remaining deeply rooted in the local ecosystem of Novi Pazar.
She graduated as Valedictorian from the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade in 1989 and began her career in theatre, designing costumes for more than 100 productions, including productions of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Dickens, and Molière. Her contribution to the performing arts has been recognised with numerous awards, including an EMMY NOMINATION for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes for her work in Dune Prophecy, a winner of the Costume Designers Guild Awards for Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Television for her work in Dune Prophecy, four Sterija Awards, two Ardalion Awards, and the Grand International Award for Spectacle Design at the YUSTAT Biennial.
Since 2001, she has worked internationally, collaborating with Academy Award-winning costume designer Milena Canonero on films such as The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Marie Antoinette, and The Wolfman. Her film credits include Coriolanus, A Good Day to Die Hard, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and numerous other international productions.
She is the artistic leader of Veenweide Atelier and the co-founder of Atelier LUMA, LUMA Arles’ biodesign lab dedicated to bioregional practices and material engineering. Henriëtte has led fieldwork in Mediterranean wetlands, collaborating with remote wetland communities from Southern Europe, Africa, and West Asia. Her work spans co-fabrication systems for beverages, footwear, colors, crafts, and spaces, as part of an ongoing search for new ecosocial balance. Her projects have been exhibited internationally.
In her recent book Water Works (Waal & Driessen, 2025), she outlines ecosocial design as a method, in which the relationship between humans, ecology, and systems is central. The book positions water infrastructures as socio-ecological systems that require new forms of ecological imagination, storytelling, and alliances between human and non-human actors.
Social designer, entrepreneur, and impact leader based in Amsterdam, whose work sits at the intersection of circularity, social justice, and entrepreneurship.
As the founder and CEO of the United Repair Centre, he has pioneered a scalable B2B clothing repair model that partners with major fashion brands to extend the life of garments while simultaneously creating meaningful employment for people with limited access to the labour market, including newcomers and refugees.
Prior to this, Thami co-founded Makers Unite, a social enterprise that empowers refugees and local creatives through sustainable design projects and circular production. This initiative gained international recognition after winning the What Design Can Do Refugee Challenge in 2016. Thami’s vision challenges fast fashion by embedding repair, reuse, and inclusion into the industry’s infrastructure.
Powerful advocate for dignity, gender equality, and a sustainable future by amplifying grassroots voices on global stages. Beyond Nyungu Afrika, she empowers the next generation of female entrepreneurs as a pan-African pitching and entrepreneurship trainer, helping young women confidently present their ideas and reach their full potential. For Mary, design is activism, and every product is a step toward systemic change.
Driven by an activist heart and firsthand exposure to the harsh realities of period poverty, where girls are forced to exchange sex for pads, use unsafe alternatives, or suffer health issues from poor-quality products, Mary designed a better solution. Through Nyungu Afrika, she pioneers a circular economy model that transforms agricultural waste, like pineapple leaves and maize husks, into a patent-pending, biodegradable, tree-free pulp for eco-friendly sanitary pads. Her innovation tackles both period poverty and the harmful impact of imported disposable pads on health and the environment.
