Budapest Fashion Week to be held in February

The Budapest Central European Fashion Week (BCEFW), one of the region’s most prestigious haute couture events, will be held in February, the organiser Hungarian Fashion and Design Agency (MDDU) said on Tuesday.

The event’s 15th season is being organized in broad international cooperation and will offer “a more colorful program than ever before, MDDU said.

Since 2018, the semi-annual event has introduced 80 Hungarian designers and 65 from neighbouring countries, while the number of visitors has tripled, MDDU said in a statement.

According to the organisers, the fashion week aims to make fashion and design an integral part of Budapest, and present its cultural heritage to international audiences and promoting the country’s image. So far, the main and side events of the programme have been held at such landmark buildings as the Várkert Bazár, the National and Fine Arts museums, the recently rebuilt royal riding school in the Castle or the former supreme court headquarters.

The 15th Budapest Central European Fashion Week, which will take place from 10-16 February 2025, will feature more international partnerships than ever before, with designers from six countries – Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic – showcasing their work. During BCEFW AW2526, nearly 50 designers, including young talents and established brands, will present their latest collections. Alongside fashion icons, fashion-conscious programmes and exciting accompanying events will make the jubilee unforgettable, while beauty care will be added to the BCEFW theme this year.

When Budapest becomes a fashion capital

Over the years, the Fashion Week has become more and more colourful and rich in accompanying programmes for the fashion-interested public.In the first seasons, the MOL Pop-Up Store and roundtable discussions including technology presentations were the backbone of the side events.In 2019, the Budapest Fashion & Tech Summit programme was added to the repertoire, with a number of international speakers addressing sustainability, digitalisation and innovation. During the viral period, traditional catwalk shows were replaced by a digital format, with the latest collections presented through spectacular runway videos – BCEFW’s YouTube videos reached nearly 12,000 viewers in one season. In 2021, the agency also opened a seasonal pop-up shop on Fashion Street to support the designers’ sales activities. 2023 saw the debut of the Fashion Hub at Millenáris for the first time in BCEFW’s history, which sold out with interactive workshops, lectures and presentations by more than 20 designers. The number of side events then reached 25, attracting nearly 1,000 visitors to the various venues. In 2024, the number of side events increased further, with fashion shows, shopping, professional programmes and co-arts events in more than 40 locations, which, combined with the success of the Fashion Hub, attracted nearly 3,000 visitors.