Hungarian designers debuted at a full-house show during the Milan Fashion Week

After the success of the Budapest Central European Fashion Week, Hungarian fashion designers amazed the professional audience and fashion enthusiasts in Italy. Thanks to the strategic cooperation between the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HFDA) and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), eight Hungarian brands presented the pieces of their 2023  Spring / Summer collections at the Milano Fashion Week (MFW), and PELSO had the opportunity to hold its own presentation. More than 300 viewers attended the fashion show presenting 48 looks in the ADI Design Museum, and thousands of visitors joined them, curious to see the presentation in the Fashion Hub.

One of the four main fashion weeks, the Milano Fashion Week was held again between the 20^th and the 26^th of September, where five Hungarian designers from the HFDA and the CNMI’s joint mentoring programme – ABODI, CUKOVY, KATA SZEGEDI, ZSIGMOND and THEFOUR – presented their newest collections at a collective fashion show. Moreover, those interested could view the pieces of six domestic brands – ABODI, CUKOVY, KATA SZEGEDI, NINI, UNREALINDUSTRY and PINETIME– in the MFW’s Fashion Hub for a whole week. It was the eighth time Hungarian fashion brands debuted under the HFDA’s umbrella brand, Budapest Select. It aims to provide talented Hungarian designers more attention when appearing internationally, with unified communication towards the market while keeping the brands’ individual characteristics. Thus, Hungarian designers had the possibility to meet the international trade press, including the American and Chinese press, and the buyers who accepted the HFDA and CNMI’s invitation.

The Budapest Select exhibition was placed in the ADI Design Museum’s design history section, surrounded by brands such as Alessi, Ferrari, and Kartell. Many of the most renowned professionals viewed the Hungarian designers’ exhibition, such as Suzy Menkes, former Fashion Editor of International Herald Tribune and former Editor of VOGUE International, who has become almost a legend in the fashion industry. The participants were welcomed by an innovative solution at the exhibition since at UNREALINDUSRTY’s stands they could walk through the brand’s virtual store. The one-week presentation of the brands had a sales incentivising goal as well so that those interested could get physically close to the pieces; thus, buyers could view the products they would order for the next season first-hand.

There was a huge interest in the Budapest Select collective fashion show held on the 23^rd of September, where brands presented their new models one by one, providing a holistic image of the Hungarian creative industry. This programme of the Milano Fashion Week was so popular that even after all the seats were filled, people kept arriving to see the fashion show, where the sets displayed formed an exciting and artistically diverse picture of the domestic variety – thanks to the staff and the work of Paolo Turina stylist, the makeup artists, and the hairdressers.

“This fashion show proves the success of the partnership between the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana; more and more people are interested in the mentees of the two agencies. Our strategic goal is to further support Hungarian talents on the way to international success and recognition while strengthening Hungary’s central role in the region and the country’s image on the international level – Zsófia Jakab, the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency’s CEO thus summarised the importance of the results achieved in Milan.

In addition to the designers exhibiting under the Budapest Select umbrella brand, the swimwear brand PELSO got an opportunity to display its creations. The Balaton-inspired collection of clothes decorated with flowers, cranes, and hawk moths was presented on a roof terrace near Milan Cathedral Square. The turquoise catwalk, on which the models walked, evoked the distinctive shade of Lake Balaton which helped to create a summery atmosphere.

By clicking on the links, you can watch the Hungarian fashion designers’ catwalk show and the event’s summary video on the Agency’s official YouTube channel.

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About the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency

The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency was founded as a subsidiary of the Hungarian Tourism Agency in 2018. The Agency's main goal is to strengthen the country’s fame by popularising Hungarian fashion and design internationally. One of its main missions is to increase export while developing domestic manufacturing and traditional creative industries. As an integrative organization, the HFDA aims to promote cooperation and knowledge sharing between the players in the fashion and design industry both in Hungary and the region, which is the key to long-term success.

Milano Fashion Week

The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency acts as a coordinating centre for sharing information and knowledge, as well as for the exploration and realisation of opportunities for cooperation among the different players in the industry. An important part of its role in the industry is fashion diplomacy, which aims to develop professional relationships and strategic partnerships with other countries’ fashion centres. The agency signed an agreement with the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in 2018, which enables the Chamber of Italian Fashion to act as a strategic partner, providing support for Hungarian fashion to evolve and enter the international market.  As part of the partnership renewed in 2021, under the parties' jointly launched International Mentoring Programme, several brands debut at the Milan Fashion Week each season under the Budapest Select umbrella brand, created by the Agency, allowing designers to get more exposure through consistent communication while maintaining their own brand identity when presented abroad.