Budapest Central European Fashion Week increases focus on international visibility and aspiring talents

In its 16th edition, which took place from September 1 to 7, Budapest Central European Fashion Week (BCEFW) with the support of the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana (CNMI) and the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HfDA) made progress at their goal to establish itself as a strategic junction on the European fashion card. For a week, the works of creative people from Hungary, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Ukraine were presented in a program that combined Catwalk presentations with over 50 parallel activities such as lectures, exhibitions and networking meetings for the local audience. As part of an agreement with the Mercedes-Benz Bucharest Fashion Week, the Romanian designer Medeea also represented her country at the event.

With a focus on strengthening their international visibility, the edition also included Hungarian universities for the first time. This marked a further step towards the consolidation of Budapest as a long-term reference for fashion in Central and Eastern Europe.

Estimating talents shape the event

“What made this season particularly exciting was the strong presence of young talents. Almost 60 percent of the designers: inside was an up -and -coming names,” notes Zsófia Jakab, CEO from BCEFW and HFDA.

“A central component of our strategy was the structure of bilateral partnerships with organizations such as the Czech fashion association, the Mercedes-Benz Bucharest Fashion Week, the Ljubljana Fashion Week, the Slovak fashion association, the Belgrade Fashion Week and the Ukrainian Fashion Week.”

From the beginning, the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana was a strategic partner. Now these cooperations “not only enrich the program in Budapest, but also enable Hungarian designers to present their collections abroad – from Milan to Ljubljana. This is done in an exchange system that increases its international visibility significantly. For the future, we are planning to expand this network even further and to develop new partnerships in Asia and the nearby East”, explains the managing director to fashionunited.

The Budapest Fashion Week would like to establish itself as a central fashion platform in the region. It supports young talents through the constant participation of universities and international opportunities for aspiring designers: inside. In addition, it increasingly integrates more conscious and circular practices.

Established brands and new generations

Overall, the meeting acted as a strategic shop window that reflected the width of the regional creative ecosystem. From the brands in the development stage that want to gain visibility in order to promote their growth, to established companies with clear goals. They want to expand their partner network and receive access to new markets or return to markets that they had already explored before the pandemic.

Nanushka is the most clear example of building Budapest to build a global brand. Their commercially oriented concept, which is also committed to sustainability and experimenting with innovative materials, consolidated international presence with flagship stores in important cities such as London, New York and Shanghai.

The duo behind Kata Szegedi represents a generation of designers: inside, which, based on an independent project founded in 2009, developed a more conscious approach. You use vintage materials and integrate slow fashion practices. They are supported by Mentoring programs from the HFDA and the CNMI that accompany the designers: inside their international expansion.

At Nubu Studio, Judit Garam’s project, an essential and flowing aesthetics stood out, which underlined the movements of the dancers: inside on the catwalk. The silhouettes materialized in versatile and commercial pieces that give everyday life a minimalist sophistication. This approach already aroused interest in markets such as the USA, Japan and Hong Kong.

The showroom in the re-lake format established itself as one of the strategic axes of the event by enabling a direct dialogue between designer: inside, press and buyer: inside. The commitment of the organization of attracting Asian experts reflects the trust that the market in Hungary will find a differentiated offer. The presence of European countries like Greece confirmed that international interest also expands within its own continent.

The role of universities

While established brands lend stability to the Central European Fashion Week calendar, the new generations are indicated by designers: inside a particularly fresh and interesting future in the region. For the first time, the catwalk comprised the presentations of the Budapest Metropolitan University (Metu) and the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) as part of the official event program.

Markus Hannah, who is interested in hat machines, told Fashionunited that the everyday style in Hungary was rather subtle and even conservative. Nevertheless, he defended the view that young designers “think big” inside and dare to reinterpret the folkloristic tradition. This reflection is in dialogue with the striking visual language of his presentation. His biggest challenge, he admitted, consisted of standing out in a saturated market: “It is not enough to have a good idea; you have to be able to present it, new, fresh, a rarity.”

Noémi Winkler focuses on craftsmanship as a distinguishing feature of the Hungarian fashion: “What distinguishes us is our deep connection with manual work and the cultural heritage.” Fascinated by weaving and technical experiments, Winkler plans her international career towards Asia with a master’s degree in Shanghai. She is convinced that local talents can achieve global visibility if they are accompanied by a strong and authentic narrative.

Petra Nagy offers a different perspective associated with shoes and DIY culture. In her opinion, the Hungarian fashion is due to economic factors: “Luxury is not accessible to most, but my generation finds creativity in the second -hand and self -expression.” She has made her academic experience experiment with unexpected materials such as aluminum. Your long -term goal is to found your own shoe brand after gaining experience in a large company.

In the international block of young talents, the work of the Slovenian textile designer Lan Krebs, who has just completed his master at the Swedish School of Textiles. His project, which he presented together with two other designers: the knitting technique leads to a very interesting area. It transforms the material into sculptural structures that seem to react to the movement of the body. The result is pieces with a great visual effect, between futuristic and organic, which did not leave him unnoticed in the program.