Born in Berlin, Anna Hegedüs spent her early childhood in Budapest. The designer owes her passion and talent for fashion to her family: her Hungarian grandmother worked as a tailor, her German grandmother taught fashion theory at the University of Art and Design Burg Giebichenstein, where Anna graduated, as well. In 2012 the designer founded PIROSHKA, a creative mix and remix of elements taken from both cultures: urban fashion and Hungarian folklore dress. Whilst all ideas and drawings for her collections are developed in Anna Hegedüs’ studio in central Berlin, the production takes place in Hungary, with materials supplied by traditional Hungarian weaving mills and blueprinters.
According to her own words, she creates “folklore fashion for urban Red Riding Hoods, for modern, cosmopolitan women with a sense of tradition.” Why Little Red Riding Hood? Well, Anna Hegedüs named her label after the title and protagonist of the fairy tale: In Hungary Red Riding Hood is called Piroshka. And that is also the name of Hegedüs’ Hungarian grandmother, with whom she spent her childhood. “To me, PIROSHKA is the alter ego of a traditional eastern European girl who moved to the city and tries to combine the two worlds”, says the designer. And indeed it was this particular fairy tale’s aesthetics that inspired Hegedüs to create her first collection in 2012 – which promptly made it to the finale of the popular Hungarian fashion design contest “Gombold Ujra!” and allowed her to present her designs in a great fashion show at Central European Fashion Days in Budapest. PIROSHKA – the stuff that fairy tales are made of.
Photos courtesy of mercedez fashion week