A few days before the 2020 NYE celebration, someone forced open the doors of Level Five and broke-in. The sound system, a moneybox, and a blanket left in the common area of the floor disappeared. Over the floor tags, words and weird drawings had been scribbled on the walls, several of which merely said “SADEK.” After conducting a search of the building, someone was found hidden in a corner on the top floor, sleeping on a makeshift bed partly made up of elements taken from Level Five. Around his bed were several inscriptions and drawings that were similar to the ones discovered on our floor, tying his stay in the building to the break-in at Level Five. The tall man did not speak any of the languages we spoke, making it impossible for us to gather any further information about his situation and his motivations. The experience of a break-in was tough for all the people who use the space daily, but finding out that someone did it just to find a warm spot to spend the night during the freezing Belgian winter, was even more so. As the D-E-A-L design studio is located in Level Five, we took this as an opportunity to turn this experience into something constructive and creative. As a result, we created and designed a fictional featured fashion brand called SXL5 (SADEK X LEVEL 5), offering a collection of limited edition clothing. For the design of the items, we simply scanned and used the “SADEK” drawings that he had left on the walls in a patchwork composition. This gives an abstract visual diary of his journey through the building for the several days he had lived among us, unbeknownst to us. The sale of the SXL5 items is not for profit; the income will be split in three parts: once we receive our refund from the cost of the production, 50% will go to SALON SALE/LEVEL 5 and the other 50% will be donated to “Douche Flux” an organization involved with addressing the issue of homelessness in Belgium.

This gesture is symbolic, as it will not solve these problems, yet we see it as a creative attempt to turn the expressive outcry of a person in need of support into something that can actually support people in the same situation. At the same time, we will put our creative capacity to work for societal issues.