Record Numbers for the 14th Budapest Central European Fashion Week

On the 1^st of September 2024, the fourteenth Budapest Central European Fashion Week (BCEFW), one of the main fashion events in the Central European region, organised by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency, came to a close. The event was a tremendous success, with over 5,000 attendees at the fashion week’s shows. In addition to regional collaborations and presenting new talents, sustainability was a prominent focal point of the event, as part of which, a collaboration promoting recycling and a brand new category were introduced.

BCEFW SS25, which started on the 26^th of August and ran until the 1^st of September, fascinated fashion enthusiasts and creative industry representatives with a schedule of nearly 40 side events, a Fashion Hub program focusing on international successes, and shows of over 60 Hungarian and regional talents.

The side events spanning the BCEFW’s week were held in different locations in Budapest and Nyíregyháza, with exhibition openings, guided tours, showroom events, and professional discussions taking place with the prominent representatives of the fashion and creative industries in the limelight. The varied programs provided a comprehensive picture of the works of Hungarian creators, while numerous lectures and workshops allowed visitors to explore related arts and meet the representatives of the profession informally. Applied arts and vocational schools and their students actively participated in the program series for the first time this year, with the side events attracting more guests than ever.

The BCEFW presenting 2025 spring-summer collections particularly emphasised strengthening regional collaborations, supporting new generational talents, and promoting environmental consciousness. The Conscious Fashion Initiative’s framework, available on the BCEFW’s official website, reinforced the event’s efforts for sustainability, incentivising local and regional brands for a more conscious business model along the lines of six principles. As part of this, the Conscious by BCEFW category was created, exclusively featuring brands that live up to the Agency’s sustainability criteria based on their business practices. This year, one foreign and four Hungarian designers debuted in the category: NANUSHKA, BORBALA, MARKO FEHER (BA), SLANGSLANG and PRINTA have innovatively reflected on the principles of conscious and ethical operations. To support sustainability efforts, within the partnership with MOHU MOL Waste Management Ltd. and Millenáris, textile collection containers were placed at Millenáris to promote recycling and support sustainable thinking among visitors. Nearly 400 kg of used clothing was collected during the weekend event.

This year’s shows have seen a significant increase in the number of regional designers, as BCEFW has set an objective of integrating the international fashion scene for the SS25 season. Regional brands appeared in collective shows and presentations, as outlined in agreements with the Slovakian Fashion Council, Ljubljana Fashion Week, Belgrade Fashion Week, and Ukrainian Fashion Week. This year, eight Serbian, one Moroccan, two Slovenian, three Polish, four Slovakian, one Bosnian-Herzegovinian and four Ukrainian creators were featured in the BCEFW calendar, which is becoming more and more popular on the international scene every year. As part of a collaboration, the event featured a collective presentation by industrial design and product design engineering students from the Institute of Product Design at the Rejtő Sándor Faculty of Light Industry and Environmental Engineering, focusing on emerging talents.

Popular local brands also exhibited their collections on the runway in catwalk shows and BCEFW Showcases, and the New Generation and Young Talents categories introduced their young designers to a broad audience. A diverse range of self-organised shows and presentations enriched the weekend program, featuring the most popular local brands and regional designers. These grand-scale shows attracted over 3,500 visitors to the Millenáris Building G.

The colourful events of the Fashion Hub took place at the neighbouring Millenáris National Dance Theatre between the 31^st of August and the 1^st of September, where a total of 12 inspiring presentations, workshops, and roundtable discussions, combined with professional testimonials, awaited the guests. On Saturday and Sunday, more than 20 designers debuted at the venue with presentations. In the same location, fashion and creative industry brands’ exhibitors awaited those interested to get to know products first-hand.

The BCEFW was attended by prominent representatives of the Hungarian fashion scene, as well as key players from the international fashion scene. Editors of ELLE Poland and ELLE Ukraine, journalists from NSS, Vogue Italia, Vogue Adria, and 10 Magazine US, Gili Biegun and Shay Zanco, influencers, and Despi Naka and, last but not least, Pat Domingo, street-style photographers, also viewed the shows.

One of the main goals of the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency is to turn Budapest into the region’s fashion capital as well as an attractive destination for travellers interested in fashion and design who specifically look for products from the Hungarian creative industries. One of the most important tools to achieve this is BCEFW, which places great emphasis on increasing the sales and visibility of Hungarian and regional designers year after year. BCEFW’s objective is to be seen as a springboard by the renowned big brands and emerging talents of Hungary and the regional countries, providing them with the opportunity to expand their commercial activity and increase their international visibility. In the SS25 season, the presence of regional brands and strengthening connections were in line with the commitment to make the event a bridge for international fashion scene participants, linking regional countries as the central hub of the Central European fashion industry.