To save space for images, I’m not going to add a lot of words here. Just know that almost everything you’re about to see took place behind the iron curtain. In the 1980s, Budapest was not quite socialist and not quite capitalist, and there was one fashion designer who thrived in this moment.
This is the story of Tamás Király, an unusual artist from an unusual period of Hungarian history, both of which were unusually short-lived.
Because Király was murdered in 2013.
This is the famous hat that is a perfect replica of the Hungarian Parliament.
Was the hat making a political statement? Or was it a joke? Or was it just a cool hat? No one really knew. Although the police certainly tried to figure it out.
Király made his international debut in 1988, at the Dressater show in West Berlin, at the then-abandoned Hamburger Bahnhof.
The sources for this story, and for all these images, are the following two publications:
Tamás Király. Out of the Box, the catalog for the retrospective at the Ludwig Museum
Tamás Király 80s, the book assembled by Gyula Musckovics and Andrea Soós. You can see a talk they gave here - which has great footage of the Dressater show.
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Hungary has great local fashion today- as artist and designers continue to do their own thing. My favorites are THEFOUR, Daige, Vengru (makes geometric bags that stand beautifully on their own, or you can clip them to custom canvas totes when you need more space. Smart idea!) and I adore the corduroy getups of Donna Terra (and her hemp tulip top)
Yours,
Avery
Dear Avery
I wanted to share a less public, but no less sincere, THANK Y0U! I tried on IG and Reddit, but could not find you so thought I would leave a comment here.
I've been a fan of your work since I first heard the exciting news from 99PI that you have your own podcast on the way. I have cherished each and every episode, not least of all for your buoyant and generous spirit. From learning about legendary Princess Liliuokalana writing Aloha Oe and being a founding designer for the 'aloha shirt' till your compelling conversation with Jason Jules on the idea of 'cool' and beyond.
The work in which you're involved is incredibly interesting, relevant, and just delightful to unpack and stimulate one's creative soul.
FYI I ended up having a lovely convo with Mr. Jules and now he follows me after I tagged him in a photo with my purple socks, one of his
iconic expressions. Our fashion
In languages of my home, IsiZulu, and isiXhosa, respectively, I say thank you: ngiyabonga; enkosi!
and in the language of my matrilineal line, I say share the sentiment in Hebrew: Toda!
Warm regards and hugs from sunny South Afrika,
Aaron, known as ASARIO
@AsarioTyro
@BienHabilleDesign
Loved this podcast! My mom was a university student in Odessa in Ukraine during the 1980s and fashion was an integral part of her life. Despite there being a select state sponsored clothing shops, there wasn't direct access to the clothes that people really wanted: Levi's, patent leather boots, cool bomber jackets, statement earrings. And my mom made a very large living supplying that demand. Her dad was a shipping engineer and was one of the few people in Ukraine who could travel abroad. In his luggages he would bring back clothing and cosmetics from all over the world, for my mom to sell to friends and other students. People would pay 80 for one pair of Levi's jeans - the average monthly income of workers being 100.
Now whenever people question capitalism or the importance of fashion my mom is very skeptical -after all people would save up for a year to purchase a pair of Levi's from her and she lived a relatively comfortable life because she found a way to be a capitalist during communism.