Zsanett Hegedüs

AIAIÉ

Tailor

Tailored blends of craftsmanship

Zsanett considers tailoring more personal and eco-conscious than other areas of fashion
She sometimes mixes several schools of tailoring within one garment
She is an avid textile collector and has a small fabric shop in her studio

Zsanett Hegedüs decided to become a fashion designer at a very young age. She dreamed of a big fashion house with beautiful ready-to-wear clothes, but after finishing as a textile designer and design manager at the prestigious Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, she realised that working on a bespoke basis was a better direction to take. Zsanett soon found that this field suited her much more, as it was more personal, satisfaction was more measurable and the practice was also more sustainable. Today she has no desire to design ready-to-wear garments anymore. Zsanett specialises in the artisanal lines of dressmaking, working primarily in menswear. She is one of the few professionals worldwide who know and combine several schools of tailoring within one same garment. She is self-taught and still has a thirst for knowledge. “I like to learn – I would still love to go to some Italian and British tailors for a practical lesson," she says.

Interview

When did you open up your studio?: In 1995, when I started working for my first client. Since then I have been working continuously in this bespoke field without interruption. For the first 15 years I only designed and made casual clothes for women. Later I had to retrain as a men's tailor because I could not find a tailor in Budapest who could help me with the production.
Do you think the field you work in is under threat?: There is an oversupply of schools in the intellectual part of fashion design, but fewer and fewer people want to learn the practical part of it. Because of this, it is difficult to find good tailors. These people are not paid well enough and a very high number of people are leaving the profession. This is already affecting my work today, and will be an even bigger problem in the future.
In what direction do you want to develop your work?: I would love to create more leather glove designs. It is an area where I can be super inspired and have a great understanding of technique. I would also like to spend a lot more time on comparative menswear, which I have been researching for over ten years.
Are you accepting trainees?: I teach within the framework of my Material Love textile science courses at different levels in my own studio, at the college or on courses run by other professionals. I have also taken on trainees on several occasions, but for the collaboration to be mutually beneficial, there needs to be a certain level of knowledge so that the trainee can engage with my work alongside me.

Zsanett Hegedüs is a master artisan: she began her career in 1995 and she started teaching in 2016