Lucia S. Hegyi is a prominent figure both in the Hungarian fashion scene and abroad as well. Here in Hungary she is called a "tailor of souls", someone who not only helps her clients in selecting an appropriate dress, but during a day-long consultation she creates their very own style, which includes new hairstyle, makeup, accessories and a complete makeover of their wardrobe. It doesn't end here though: she is willing to give additional guidance ("style updates") every time fashion trends change or when a client feels the need to reinvent her- or himself.







For a while after her school leaving exam she intended to go on to university and become an electric engineer but she soon realized that she wanted to become a fashion designer. For a while she worked in a Hungarian clothes factory where she learned English and French women's tailoring and leather-work. In 1991, she founded her own brand Luan by Lucia. Unlike Tamás Náray, who follows the French line, she finds the English way of making clothes much closer to her heart because of its excellent craftsmanship and complexity.


Before founding her own brand she used to work with a fellow designer but like so many other designers she finds it hard to work and create together with a another person. Besides Luan by Lucia, which is the name of her quality haute couture collection, she has two other lines of her own: Wan by Lucia offers quality prét-a-porter clothes at more affordable prices with the intention of improving the average Hungarian woman's sense of style and way of clothing. The brand name Pelle by Lucia is reserved for her leather and fur collection.


Her customers are usually people who live their lives in the limelight, such as models, politicians, businesspeople, socialites, television newscasters and actors. Unlike abroad, however, people in Hungary don't often like to tell the whole world about who is responsible for their seemingly impeccable sense of style which is why it's impossible to find out who actually enlist her company's services. There could be quite a lot of them because even though her clothes are not easy to afford many people turn to her for a personal consulting when trying to create their own style, or so she claims.


She's not very happy with the fashion scene in Hungary, mostly because according to her there's isn't one worth mentioning. Since Hungary is not a particularly rich country, people usually cannot afford to wear the works of local fashion designers, and those who can tend to spend their money in Milan or Paris. It is also unfortunate that the average Hungarian person's sense of style is not very refined for lack of a better term. I say this is no wonder, as most Hungarians are busy trying to make a living and trying to survive which does not leave them much time to educate themselves in arts, literature, music and fashion. Exceptions are today's teenagers and those in their twenties: according to Lucia Hegyi they do try to follow the latest trends and even though most of them cannot afford designer clothes they have a good sense of fashion and know how create their own style using clothes from Mango or Zara.


When asked to name a few of her favorite foreign designers Lucia Hegyi mentioned Gianfranco Ferré, Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, Armani and Galliano.

Her clothes do follow trends when it comes to colors and materials, but she tends to stick to her own preferences in shapes and cutting. She has her own style which defines her, especially when it comes to the waist, shoulders and other small details of her creations, as she uses these to enhance or hide her clients' advantageous or less than becoming features.

Her favorite material is silk, but to my great disappointment she also likes to work with leather and fur. (Shame on her.) She likes to add many handmade elements to her clothes too.


Her mottos are: harmony, balance, self-realization, patience, humility.

A while ago she decided to support blooming fashion designers and students by granting them access to her workshop and tutoring them personally in order to pass on her twenty years of invaluable experience and knowledge. Some of these privileged students finally decide not to pursue a career in fashion but Lucia Hegyi says that she does not consider this a failure by any means. At least she can spare them the frustration and anxiety of a bad career choice and they can avoid spending years with something that would ultimately prove to be a mistake. On the other hand, most of her trainees end up being successful themselves with their own style and own artistic visions, which Lucia considers a great boon for the Hungarian fashion scene.


When I saw her in a television interview about half a year ago, I was very impressed with this woman. I've always tried to avoid seeing the world and the people in it in only back and white and so the fact that I wholeheartedly disapprove of her use of fur and leather in her collections does not stop me from considering her a sort of role model who's worth following. I don't mean this in the literary sense of me trying to become a fashion designer, of course, as that would be ridiculous. Instead, I can safely say that I admire her strength with which she dares to follow her own heart and also the calm collectedness which radiated from her all through the interview. She isn't one to be messed with and she doesn't try to conform to the norms and nod in agreement every time people tell her something.

Her choice of models does leave some things to be required in my opinion (Well, I tried to select some of the better looking ones here, but still...), but I truly love her clothes, especially the Fresco Collection and her heavy use of silk and earthy tones in her creations.

What do you think? :-)

View some of her collections here:
Luan by Lucia at the Wella Fashion Show in the spring of 2007
Pictures of the Fresco Collection
Legends of the North Collection
Nature's Gift Collection


The Hungary Month Posts include:

Hungarian Fashion Designers 1 - Tamás Náray
Helia-D
March - Hungary Month on Binary Star  

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  

I stumbled upon The Sartorialist half a year ago and it was my first encounter with the term 'street fashion' and the genre of the 'street fashion blog'. Since then I came across several others such as Face Hunter, STIL IN BERLIN, and HEL LOOKS. They've all been great sources of inspiration: bigger ones than the runway actually, simply because what ordinary people put on is usually something I'd have no problem wearing either, whereas clothes seen on fashion shows are usually anything but wearable.

A few weeks ago I discovered three Hungarian street fashion blogs the last one being the most unique of the three, and a real treat for anyone who admires art and fashion.

Our Style in Hungary is your typical street fashion blog with pictures of stylish pedestrians and a list of shops where the reader might stumble upon the items worn by above mentioned pedestrians. It's been online since February 2007 and has the most extensive gallery of the three blogs.

Budapest Style is very similar to the previous one with the only difference that it focuses on citizens of Budapest (Hungary's capitol) exclusively. I also had the impression that its standards are a bit higher when it comes to what's stylish and what isn't. It's definitely worth a check!

ART and STYLE is my absolute favorite which is probably because it is a unique take on fashion, something I've never seen before. The owner of the blog is a young Hungarian art student who is inspired by street fashion and depicts ordinary pedestrians in her pictures using watercolors. I encourage you to visit her and even leave a comment if you like her art. (She does speak English!)

So much for now, but I'll update this entry if I find another blog worthy of mentioning here. Also, I would very much like to see similar street fashion blogs, so if you know and like one then don't hesitate to share it with us in the comments or in an e-mail.