In a dazzling departure from her customary casual style, Hungary’s most famous current female athlete, swimmer Katinka Hosszu, wore a dress by top Hungarian label Nanushka earlier this week when she received the Female Athlete of the Year award in Budapest.
Nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her tenacity, the 30-year-old Hosszu is the current world-record holder in 100-meter individual medley, 200-meter individual medley (long course and short course), 400-meter individual medley (long course) and 200-meter backstroke (short course).
She was the first swimmer, both male or female, to hold world records in all five individual medley events at the same time and holds two-thirds of the Hungarian national records.
She also now matches the record of another Hungarian swimmer, Krisztina Egerszegi, who was the five-time winner of the Female Athlete of the Year award.
Clothing label Nanushka was established in 2006 by young Hungarian designer Sandra Sándor. After graduating from the London College of Fashion in 2005, what started as a modest brand for Sándor came to international prominence around a decade later.
Peter Baldaszti, Sándor’s longtime partner, later joined as a co-owner and CEO, and was key to bringing business acumen to help the budding firm grow.
The brand operates a free-standing flagship concept store in Budapest. Her collections are now stocked in over 30 countries internationally through online stores, specialty shops, and department stores like Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges, Liberty and Browns, Net-a-Porter, and MyTheresa. Her brand also ships to over 100 countries worldwide.
Hosszu even posted an image of her wearing the Nanushka creation on her Instagram
Title image: Hungarian Olympic champion swimmer Katinka Hosszu receives the Female Athlete of the Year award from Charles Camenzuli, Secretary General of the International Sports Press Association (MTI/Tibor Illyés)
