Balkantango
2006- I Basel-Budapest
I established Balkantango in 2006, as one of the first professional recycling fashion brands of Eastern Europe. Since then, I have been manufacturing minimal, black, recycled bicycle inner tube accessories: bags, wallets and belts.
The design quickly became a success and a must-have for the then-new bicycle-based eco-friendly cultural elite of Budapest. Later, it turned out that my mission was impossible to accomplish: no capitalism allows a real sustainable business without external support. As I’ve never been supported, nor have I cooperated in greenwashing, my only choice was to get out of big scale production. Despite the ten hard years I spent as an entrepreneur designer, the main message of Balkantango is still in the middle of my heart. That’s why, I continue with producing accessories, however, in a much reduced quantity. As I moved to Basel half ot the recycling process is made here and the other half in Budapest.
To turn an ever growing and successful business, into a much smaller but sustainable size, was the most feminist move of mine. Because size does matter and the bigger is not the better.
Whenever I see Balkantango objects in use, I am immensely happy that we are a small, but strong family, who deeply believe in the slow and local consumption of handmade recycled goods.
You can buy or pre-order a product here and read the whole statement behind Balkantango here. This is Balkantango’s instagram and this is its facebook.
