Budapest, 20 August, 2023

In today’s Hungarian language, when we say "viselet" (costume, wear) we almost exclusively refer to traditional folk costumes. Folk costumes are part of our history and identity," - stated Zsolt V. Németh, the Prime Minister’s Commissioner for the protection of the Hungarian way of life and our national values, at the folkTREND! fashion show held at the Crafts Festival in Budapest.

The Prime Minister’s Commissioner highlighted that the first event presenting traditions in a reimagined form was organised in 2016 by the Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for Hungarian cultural heritage and national values. Thanks to this initiative, traditional materials, techniques, motifs, and tailoring patterns are revived in order to promote their combination with contemporary dress styles.

This year, the audience had the opportunity to see the best creations from the last year's Hungarian Cultural Heritage Tender at the folkTREND event named „The tradition is old, the style is new”. In addition to creativity and dedication of the designers the materials and traditions – with inherent dynamics - become part of the creative process - added Zsolt V. Németh.

One of the titles of the Hungarian Cultural Heritage Tender in earlier years specifically aimed to design clothes and accessories that are characterised by traditional forms, ornamentation, fabrics, or techniques. The winners of the tender as in former years have been offered the opportunity to present their new designed collections. In this tender, it is a highly important criterion that the traditional clothing culture and the treasures of applied folk arts of the Carpathian Basin are preserved and integrated in our contemporary fashion, the Prime Minister’s Commissioner concluded.

Source: kormany.hu

Photo: Tibor Vermes

Download the folkTREND! - 2023 catalogue