THE DESIGNER
Dóri Tomcsányi brings a distinctive voice to contemporary fashion, shaped by her upbringing at the crossroads of Hungarian nobility and socialist working-class values. This dual heritage informs the collections of her eponymous brand, TOMCSANYI, where childhood memories of post-socialist Hungary and a lifelong love of textiles come to life. Drawing on midcentury minimalism and national identity, her work explores how tradition can evolve through modern design. Dóri leads her independent label with a tight-knit team—including pattern designer Viola Balázs and skilled seamstresses—and shares her expertise as a fashion design lecturer at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design while pursuing postgraduate studies.
THE BRAND
TOMCSANYI is a Budapest-based slow fashion womenswear brand defined by on-demand production and a love for playful prints. Launched in 2012 and spotlighted by Susie Bubble, the brand reimagines everyday beauty through bold colors and offbeat patterns. Early collections were rooted in post-socialist Hungary, drawing inspiration from local life, midcentury design, and industrial oddities. Over time, TOMCSANYI’s focus has deepened—now exploring Hungarian identity through folk-inspired motifs and national symbols. Each piece blends cultural storytelling with sustainable values, vibrant prints with refined tailoring, resulting in a wardrobe that’s both expressive and timeless.
THE COLLECTION
For the Spring/Summer 2026 collection, TOMCSANYI draws inspiration from a unique piece of Hungarian cultural heritage: the Hungarian playing cards, or Magyar kártya. This 32-card deck – much more than a simple game – tells a story of society, history, and identity through four symbolic suits: hearts representing the clergy, leaves (or “green”) the citizens, acorns the peasantry, and bells (or “pumpkin”) the aristocracy.
Rather than depicting the actual characters or scenes from the cards, the collection explores their abstract visual layers, breaking them down and reassembling them through the technique of paper collage. Familiar motifs – hearts, leaves, acorns, bells – transform into abstract patterns, while the seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter – emerge as stylized landscapes, evoking cut-out paper compositions rendered in large, vibrant, and expressive surfaces.
Everything is deconstructed and recomposed – the result is playful yet intellectual. Instead of reconstructing tradition, the collection reinterprets it through TOMCSANYI’s distinctly contemporary lens.
The silhouettes combine simplicity with character: clean lines, generous volumes, and puzzle-like abstract prints come together in a visual language where the past is not a monument, but a remixed world of form and colour.