BelaBela means WhiteWhite in Slovenian. It is a product design brand by the textile and fashion designer Jana Mršnik. Formally established in 2008 together with a former BelaBela designer Vesna Štih, BelaBela first started with textile art projects and later expanded to the textile and product design as well as interior design and spatial installations.
Years of experience in the fields of textile design, fashion, and textile art are the basis for the unique aesthetics of the BelaBela products; their look and applicability bear a distinctive textile touch. The projects were inspired by the designer’s deep conviction that in today’s tendency towards mass production there is an increasing need for objects with a personal touch. So BelaBela began exploring ways in which to use the advantages of mass production while combining them with individuality and uniqueness.
Since its beginnings in 2005, BelaBela’s activity has been focused on manual work, exploring its therapeutic qualities and further using them in the production process. Projects at the same time deal with the question of the true value of the products, highlighting their background by disclosing essential information about their formation.
The combination of industrial production and manual work, modularity, ecology, as well as traditional handiwork techniques interpreted in modern ways have become some of the main features in BelaBela products. This way BelaBela is trying to highlight the meaning of manual work and personal creativity, with a special interest in a design that gives the user the chance to be actively involved in creating the final product.
Passing through different design fields and integrating textiles with other materials, such as wood, glass, paper, and similar, blurs the boundaries between the textile and the non-textile. The BelaBela projects are designed to explore the new roles and contents of contemporary textiles, and at the same time to upgrade the perception of textiles in this day and age.
Multifunctional modular light: 1∞ Light
All of the objects created for the brand are made with a singular element that can be used to assemble different products. These can become fashion accessories, decorative items, or spatial installations. The polypropylene luminaire consists of a layer of modules that create a stable, voluminous shape without additional constructional or binding elements. The product is hand-assembled, made of polypropylene, recyclable and washable.
The magic of snow crystals, organisms from the bottom of the sea, the mysterious world of fractals were some of the inspirations for creating the 1∞ collection. The transparent polypropylene conjures a world of fluid little bodies that through the interaction of several layers of light create crystal and lacelike structures. The infinite play of light and shadow, of depth and surface, of micro spaces and motion, reflects the beauty of the infinite in the finite.
The lampshade is composed entirely of layered modules, creating a stable voluminous shape without using any additional constructional or bonding elements.
Hand embroidered or DIY home accessories: Cocoons
The collection combines modern technology with handiwork. It explores its therapeutic qualities and includes them in the production process. It creates work groups which use manual work as a tool for psychotherapeutic process, as well as offering the participants earning opportunities. It explores the true value of work in today’s world of mass production, highlighting the products’ background.
