One of Hungary's most successful fashion designers is undoubtedly Tamás Náray who, to many people, comes across as an uncompromising perfectionist, someone who demands 200 % both from himself and his colleagues.

He was born in the town of Pásztó in the Northern part of Hungary. His parents, being white-collars both, did not encourage his dreams of working in the fashion industry so he had to compromise and obtain a degree at the College of International Management and Business of Budapest. For a while he worked at the art department of a foreign trade company. His boss soon encouraged him to enroll in a two year course training industrial designers.



Meanwhile, he was working at the Hungarian Fashion Institute under the tutelage of Magda Vámosi, herself a great name in the Hungarian fashion industry for 50 years. Then, he was given a 12 month scholarship at Ted Lapidus and did not plan to return from France until the change in regime in 1989-90 when he decided to come home and try his luck here.



His first collection was produced by the workshop of an Austrian company Veronique Maatel in 1996. As of now, he has three salons in Hungary: one in Buda, one in the Grand Hotel Royal Budapest and one in the Ybl Palace.



Never been a member of the National Clothing Industry Association of Hungary, Náray claims that he needs neither the government's support not the taxpayers' money to make his name prevail in the fashion industry. He does not like to conform to anyone or anything and has never needed anyone's help or advice.



Náray does not like to follow current fashion trends, although he does occasionally draw inspiration from them. In his opinion, people who wish to buy the certain lifestyle associated with his designs need a sense of continuity: they need to be able to return to his creations time and time again and still find the unmistakable touch of their favorite designer.

His one true source of inspiration is French fashion.



Met and learned from: Ted Lapidus, Olivier Lapidus, Pierre Cardin, Helmut Lang, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix.

Works as the artistic counselor of a popular Hungarian TV channel.

On 20 August, 2007 Tamás Náray was awarded the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic Knight's Cross for his 20 years of work in the fashion industry.



His brand (NARAYTAMAS) can be found in multibrand stores in:

1. Dubai
2. Palm Springs, USA
3. Berlin
4. Finland (soon!)
5. Argentina (soon!)
   
   
   

1. Most of the items on the pictures are simple at first sight but always with a little twist that makes them special still. I like the subtlety of his designs; nothing too fancy and most of them would be perfectly all right to wear in public or on a night out.
2. Loving the patterns!
3. Models are real women: pretty, but never anorexic. Also, they dare to smile and their smile seems genuine enough to me. Looking at them I began pondering: "Is it just him who likes to work with real women or are Hungarian fashion models not yet as unhealthy as some of their foreign counterparts?" I'd welcome both cases, as that would mean that we have people here who care about women and wish to promote the idea of natural beauty instead of distorting women's (and especially young girls') view of what is beautiful and what is not.
4. Náray: from what I gather from television documentaries, interviews and articles he's a bit on the eccentric side sometimes bordering on arrogant but people tend to forgive him that in return for his beautiful creations. I'm just glad I'm not one of his apprentices: I don't think I'd last more than a nanosecond with him. :-)

You can see many more pictures of his designs by clicking on these links:

His 2005 Haute Couture fashion show in the Grand Hotel Royal
2007/2008 show in the Ybl Palace
2007/2008 autumn/winter collection (pictures in this post were mainly taken from this show!)

So girls, what do you think of his works? Would you consider wearing any of his creations for everyday or for some special occasion? What's your general opinion? I'm not fishing for compliments (just because he's a fellow Hungarian): I would really like to have your honest opinion on him as most of you know way more about fashion than I do (it's your area of expertise, after all). Fire away then! :-)

The Hungary Month Posts include:

Hungarian Fashion Designers 2 - Lucia S Hegyi
Helia-D
March - Hungary Month on Binary Star