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 She launched Romani Design, Hungary's first Roma fashion
label, with her younger sister Helena Varga six years ago.
Since then her colorful, sometimes flamboyant, designs have won
fans in Hungary, as well as in Brussels, Berlin, Paris and
India, where she has also presented her women's and menswear
collections.
Inspired by the traditional clothing of her rich Roma cultural
heritage Varga, 46, hopes fashion can fight stereotyping in
society.
Born in eastern Hungary, she was a jewelery maker before turning
to clothes. She also worked for several years as a mentor to
young Roma people - an experience that she says has had a
profound influence on her mission now as a fashion designer.
"We talked a lot about how important it is to find and live
fully their Roma identity," she said of her mentoring work. To
succeed in this, she said, society needs to change as well, to
be more open towards Roma people, who make up about 5 percent of
Hungary's population.
"The reason why Romani Design was created is that I wanted a
much more intensive and stronger communication channel and ...
to boost the prestige of Roma culture," Varga told Reuters in
the small sewing room in her studio in Budapest.
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At a glitzy fashion show in the capital featuring Hungarian
designers over the weekend, held by Marie Claire magazine, models
strolled the catwalk in Varga's vibrant Romani designs.
"The fact that Roma designs have now integrated into the
international fashion world is a huge experience for the Roma
community," said Lorena Dogi, 38, a Roma activist from Romania.
In the audience, Hajnalka Bessenyei, 37, loves Varga's designs, and
the message they send, and wore a pair of the designer's black
trousers with a red flowery waistline as she attended the show with
a friend. The social "mission" behind the designs give the clothes a
special value, she said.
"I think the more people wear (these clothes), the more visibility
Roma culture gets ... and this can improve relations between the
Roma and non-Roma communities," Bessenyei said.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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