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About

First name

Darja

Last Name

Malesic

Username

studio-Darja-Malesic

Studio Name

Darja Malesic

City

Ljubljana

Country

Slovenia

Biography

Darja Malesic is an independent designer based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. After gaining an MA in Fashion Womenswear at The Royal College of Art, London, Darja worked as a designer for over a decade in luxury fashion houses in Italy including Dolce Gabbana, before changing direction completely in order to focus on responsible design. Her creative work now spans a wide range of products from lighting and homeware to footwear, but crucially explores the possibilities offered by Slovenian wicker craft and weaving, often combined with modern engineering techniques. Darja’s work channels traditional craft techniques into contemporary design, and demonstrates sustainable practices, and ethical production. Her pieces frequently combine fluid forms and sculptural reference and use completely natural local materials, such as hazel wood, willow, corn husk and rye straw.
Since starting her own company in 2018, Darja has received several design awards from the Museum for Architecture and Design, Slovenia, and her products have been shown at many international design exhibitions including Design Weeks in Milan, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and the Netherlands (Dutch Design Week).

Education

School / Course

Royal College of Art, MA RCA, London

School / Course

University of Ljubljana, NTF

Group Shows

Show Name

_ 2024 VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, Crafting Futures

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_ 2024 VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, Open Design

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_ 2024 VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, Voda

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_ 2024 Triennial of Craftsmanship, Posavje Museum Brežice, SI

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_ 2023/24 Crafting Futures, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), Ljubljana, SI

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_ 2023 VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, Co/rizom

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_ 2023 ZAGREB DESIGN WEEK

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_ 2023 LJUBLJANA DESIGN WEEK

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_ 2023 Performance Days, Munich, Germany & Portland, Oregon, USA

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_ 2022 MILANO DESIGN WEEK, Tempi Nuovi / New Times

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_ 2022 LJUBLJANA DESIGN WEEK

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_ 2022 Created in Slovenia, Cukrarna Palace, Ljubljana, SI

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_ 2022 Made in Slovenia 19/115, CzK, SI

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_ 2021 MILANO DESIGN WEEK, [Tunnel 29] Design for a post-apocalyptic world, CzK

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_ 2021 BERLIN DESIGN WEEK, Bikini Berlin

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_ 2021 The Future of Living, CzK, presented at 32 design events and locations around the world (DUTCH DESIGN WEEK, PARIS DESIGN WEEK, BERLIN DESIGN WEEK, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK and ZAGREB DESIGN WEEK to locations in Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia)

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_ 2020 [Tunnel 29] Design for a post-apocalyptic world, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), Ljubljana, SI

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_ 2020 VIENNA DESIGN WEEK

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_ 2020 DUTCH DESIGN WEEK, Worth, EU Cosme

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_ 2019 Circular & Creative, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), SI

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_ 2019 Creators, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), SI

Awards & Nominations

Award name

_ 2023 Mark of design excellence ”Made in Slovenia”, CzK, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO)

Award name

_ 2023 Distributed Design Award finalist

Award name

_ 2023 Zagreb Design Week Award finalist

Award name

_ 2022 Mark of design excellence ”Made in Slovenia”, CzK, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO)

Award name

_ 2021 Mark of design excellence ”Made in Slovenia”, CzK, Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO)

Award name

_ 2019 WORTH 2nd Call Winner, Cosme EU

Jobs & Positions

Company / Organisation

Ministry of Culture Republic of Slovenia _ Advisory Board for Architecture and Design

From year

2022

To year

2026

Company / Organisation

Darja Malesic

From year

2018

To year

2024

Company / Organisation

Dolce & Gabbana

From year

1999

To year

2004

Company / Organisation

John Richmond

From year

2006

To year

2010

Press & Publications

Publication

Art and Design, 257, China

Publication

ArchiExpo magazine

Publication

Tagesspiegel

Publication

e-flux

Publication

The Future of Living Catalogue

Publication

Made in Slovenia Catalogue 2021

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