Designer of the Month in June: Fehér Beatrix – Camou
You can feel the urban atmosphere as soon as you take a good look at Beatrix’s collection. Pictures of big cities, monuments appear on her extravagant clothes. She has thousands and thousands of photos that she has taken herself on her trips all around the world. She was there at the very first WAMP, the Museum of Applied Arts has bought five pieces for its own collection, her youngest customer is 5 years old, her oldest one is 80.
Brand
The brand name , CAMOU derives from the phrase: „urban camouflage”. Although, Beatrix has been designing clothes for a while now, her first complete collection came out in the spring of 2007. „I always make sure that all my clothes – women, men, accessories – are not just decorative but also functional at the same time.”
The basic concept is the fusion of fashion and photography. All the motives are based on self-made pictures and are being transported onto fabric through a special “screening” technique. All in all, the final goal is to combine different shapes, pictures, meanings, and colours in a way that at the end they come together as a whole in harmony.
Her customers are mostly between 25 and 45, but she has already made a piece to a 5 year-old girl and a 80 year old lady has also bought a red piece recently. “I have always had pieces that are the most popular ones, so I have to make them time after time in different colours.”
Photos on the clothes
I have always been interested in taking photos of objects, people, and moods. I am not a professional photographer, I have never learnt how to do it, but creating a beautiful picture has become a more and more conscious act.”
Nowadays Beatrix is searching for pictures in her huge collection or she just simply takes off and shoots some more. “I often combine totally different themes. For example I like to put a picture of a prison gate onto a fabric that has birds and trees on it.”
Bio
She attended the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts, then she attended the Hungarian Univesity Of Crafts And Design Department Of Textile Design (Leather/Fashion). She got her degree in 2005, but her desire towards fashion derives from her early ages: „ I am into fashion since I was a little girl. I have sewed my first hand-made piece of clothes to the camping chair… they were not that happy at home. ”
She has travelled through Finnland and Slovenia, she has worked on Switzerland. „I have taken millions of pictures in Ljubljana. Train stations and rails were my favourite themes. I have spent three wonderful months with travelling, taking photos, painting fabrics. I have also learnt that special “screening” technique there.”
Favourites
She does not have any favourite designer, but she is really interested in the national design scene. “ If I really had to give an answer, I would say that I really like the eastern designers.”
Feedback
“It is a really nice feeling when someone finds a piece of clothes that she falls in love with. Abroad I still have to explain that I do not buy these clothes with these patterns already on them, but when they find out that I am the one who took the photos and then put them on the clothes, they usually get really excited.”
Awards
2006: Hungarian Design Prize • I. Prize
2006: Textile Triennal (Szombathely) • I. Prize
2006: Marylla (Bag Collection) • I. Prize
2005: „Metafashion” Fashion Show (Women And Menswear) • Museum Of Fine Arts
Quote from her
“The best thing in my job is that there are no two similar days. There are periods when I travel a lot, and periods when I am just sitting in my workshop with all the papers around me.”
Beyond design
She also deals with design - she is a student at MOME.
About WAMP
She was there at the very first WAMP and she is still there every month. “When they first called me, I had no idea what that was all about, but then I have received so many compliments and it was such a great success that WAMP has become a great part of my life and my work.”
