An Inspiring Insight to Hungarian Embroidery at ESMOD Kuala Lumpur’s Fashion Show & Workshop

Subang Jaya – The fashion design students of ESMOD Kuala Lumpur and fashion enthusiasts gained constructive exposure to Hungarian embroidery during the ‘Glamorous Embroidery in Fashion’ workshop and fashion show by Tünde Hrivnák, Hungarian fashion designer, at ESMOD Kuala Lumpur recently. The workshop included experiences and insights from Tünde Hrivnák regarding her embroidery designs and a fashion show of her latest 2016 spring-summer collection.

The event began as Mr. Tan Chin Wee conferred his opening speech, where he stressed on the importance of the current fashion education scene due to the growing textile and apparel industry in Malaysia, leading to a pertinent role in the nation’s economic growth. As such, ESMOD Kuala Lumpur feels gratuitous for the opportunity of this fashion show and workshop to educate and provide different perspectives in fashion towards students.

“…ESMOD Kuala Lumpur follows the ‘Masters Train Masters’ philosophy where we always collaborate with international industry professionals to exchange knowledge that can further improve the state of our fashion education and the fashion industry. And today, we are incredibly grateful that Ms. Tünde Hrivnák from Hungary can impart useful knowledge to our students in this fashion exchange,” Tan said.

Hungarian ambassador H.E. Mr. Attila Káli reciprocated the gratitude by expressing his excitement to extend the cooperation between ESMOD Kuala Lumpur and Embassy of Hungary beyond this fashion event, signaling a longer-term cooperation.

“Based on my visits, I am inspired and amazed by the vibrance here in ESMOD Kuala Lumpur. I believe that this is the perfect place to reveal a brand new collection from our designer,” he added.

Tünde Hrivnák took the stage soon after to tell her experience to the students of ESMOD KL. She displayed her unrelenting pride and love towards her motherland that fueled her passion for embroidery design. She was only about 12 years of age when she was determined to become a dressmaker and would make beautiful dresses with various patterns.

The specialty and value of Hungarian embroidery lie in the fact that the tradition has been kept and looked after for 200 years with care. Its main difference with other traditions is that it was handed down from mothers to daughters, and there is much love and respect in doing this kind of handiwork.

Keeping updated with the trends is crucial in fashion design. According to her, there has been a revival in embroidery which began about 5 years ago in 2011 when Louis Hamilton and Jenson Button, two Mercedes-Benz pilots, donned Kalocsai-patterned overalls during the races of Formula 1 Grand Prix in Hungary.

     

“I’ve had my collections long before 2011, but general attention was directed to Hungarian embroidery patterns after the F1. Basically, the whole Hungarian folk art received a great push thanks to the pilots who wore the patterns,” said Tünde Hrivnák.

Therefore, Hungarian embroidery is still very much in demand despite the rise of other modern brands such as H&M and Uniqlo. In competing with modern fashion that is minimalist and simple, Tünde Hrivnák also uses the similar approach by incorporating limited amount of colors, while her embroideries are necessary decorations that make her garments stand out from the crowd.

Her advice for keeping up the traditional fashion is to get to know and love our own traditions well. Thereafter, the challenge lies in implementing traditional motifs and patterns into the current trends. Colors and shapes should also be used with thought as each of them expresses different meanings that tell different stories.

After her workshop, Tünde Hrivnák opened a Q&A session with the participants. A multitude of practical questions poured in from ESMOD KL students, which queried about the embroidery processes, profitability, her inspirations, marketability and many other aspects, exhibiting a keen interest in knowing and comprehending the fashion industry.

Then, the fashion show proceeded, where 4 tall and slender Hungarian models displayed over 20 different dress with unique embroidery designs. The aim of Tünde Hrivnák’s collection is for audience to understand the culture of Hungary, besides encouraging the younger generations to know more about these motifs and learn to love them.

This fashion show and workshop is exemplary of the practical coaching approach of ESMOD Kuala Lumpur and The One Academy to provide a holistic fashion education which differs from other fashion syllabus, motivating students to adopt different cultural perspectives in nurturing a wider world-view and creating international designs.

The One Academy is committed to providing the best art education programme and continues to nurture its students passionately by providing diploma and degree courses, namely ESMOD Fashion Design & Pattern Making, Interior Architecture & Design, Multimedia Design with Digital Media & Interactive Design, Digital Animation with Game Development, Advertising & Graphic Design, Illustration, Movie & Game Art, Film Visual Effects and Fine Arts. For further enquiries, contact email [email protected] or visit www.toa.edu.my.