Hungarian designers and sustainable fashion—both are near and dear to Anita Korn’s heart. She works as a creative television producer in the heat of everyday life while also keenly editing her own show, “Ruhastory,” where Hungarian designers and famous people talk about their favorite clothes. For our pleasure, this time, Anita got in the spotlight: dressed head-to-toe in clothes designed by Hungarian designers, she told us about her favorite items, to which “Kókusz” (Coconut), the dog was also happy to assist.
Do you consider yourself an object-collector type or rather a minimalist?
Just as I can’t call my wardrobe a capsule, I can’t say that I am short of objects. But I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder, and I’ve given up that trait in recent years because of my environmental consciousness. One exception to this is books because although I switched to e-books at one point, I have returned to paper-based reading in the last year.
When a new object finds its way to me, it typically has an important function or story. As a result of the latter, more and more second-hand items are decorating my home and my wardrobe. Old pieces—especially if they remind me of my family—are very important to me. And in this case, the adjective “pre-loved” is the best word to describe them.
Do you have a special item in your possession that you would never get rid of? Tell us about it!
Items inherited from my maternal grandmother: her scarf, for example, which she always wore with her trench coat. I have the image in front of me of her taking it off the hanger and tying it up outside the collar of the coat with a loose motion. I put it on my wrist or in my hair these days, so it’s a “personal clothing story” for me. But the newspaper holder also brings back heartwarming memories, which was also in Granny’s house in Balaton.
I grew up at Lake Balaton, so the photo of Matti Varga that hangs in our living room reminds me of my childhood. Its minimalism, emptiness and pastel colors remind me of the period after August 20, which tourists experienced less, but I did, along with the quiet winters of Lake Balaton. The silent, calm lakeside atmosphere is always with me, even here on the fourth floor in the city center. And by the way, ever since I’ve been wearing this ring from Mama Kin on my finger, since then, I also remember the waves at Lake Balaton randomly anywhere, anytime I would escape from the city.
I find old objects much more beautiful than, say, ten years ago. I’ve also changed in the meantime; my attitude to fashion and design has formed a lot. I like to combine pieces from the sixties and seventies with new ones. Just like in my wardrobe, where Hungarian designers and vintage pieces complement each other perfectly, in the spirit of sustainability.
Getting back to our home, I’m also very proud of the flower holder I got from Daken Studio, which they said was the most beautiful flower holder in the shop’s history. And to mention my 92-year-old paternal grandmother: Grandma’s old no-longer-in-use dresser was also added to our living room, as well as a few knick-knacks from her vitrine.
What is the object (or objects) you always have with you that you never leave home without?
First of all, I have a Kate Spade bag that I bought second-hand and that I grab quite often when I leave the house. The first time I ever visited New York, I fell in love with this brand, and then on my other overseas trips, I was always hunting for their shops. But either it was too expensive, or I didn’t feel like I had found the perfect piece, so I never came home with Kate Spade on my shoulder. Then came the pandemic, travel was out of the question, and I was browsing the webshop of one of my favorite second-hand shops, RUHA, locked in my flat. And there it was, this almost vintage-looking Kate Spade piece at an absolutely affordable price. So, I always felt a bit like I was in New York when I took the bag out to walk the dog during the pandemic…
Oh, and of course, there’s my colorful water bottle, something I really never leave home without. I’ve been drinking filtered tap water for years, and I calculated the other day that I’ve saved the planet about 2500 plastic bottles so far. Not to mention how much more attractive this canteen is than a PET bottle.
If you could save an object in a time capsule for the next generation, what would it be?
Obviously, it would be a Hungarian designer dress. A piece that has the past, the present, but also the future. I think my Tomcsányi dress with colorful stripes is just like that. It has a history, the print is inspired by post-socialist Eastern Europe, and personally, it reminds me of the colorful ribbon curtains hanging on the open doors of summer cottages at Lake Balaton in the eighties and nineties (Granny had one hanging in her summer kitchen). Nowadays, because of the rainbow colors, it can also have a message value, and in the future, I hope they will think how timeless and eternal its lines and colors are, and how happy summer days its owner must have spent in it. So it has been, and so it will be, because it will surely stay in my wardrobe forever, and I will wear it as long as I can.
Photos: Balázs Mohai
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