How ‘Coco Chanel of the East’ Restyled Hungary’s Image

The agency seeks to boost the profile of Hungary's fashion industry, and many of the up-and-coming designers it works with will no doubt draw inspiration from Rotschild.

"Primarily, this is a success story of a woman who survived two political regimes and dictated fashion behind the Iron Curtain," said lldikó Simonovics, curator of an exhibition on Rotschild at the National Museum of Hungary. 

Known as the "Coco Chanel of the East", Rotschild had no shortage of high-flying clients: Jovanka Broz, the wife of Yugoslav leader Joszip Broz Tito; Egyptian Empress Farah Diba, the wife of the Iranian Shah; and Hungarian-born Hollywood celebrity Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Klara Rotschild at the rooftop of her flat in 1974. Photo: private, courtesy of the National Museum of Hungary

Born to a Jewish family in 1903, Rotschild forged an astonishing career, seemingly undisturbed by decades of political turmoil in Hungary. She dressed the high society of the conservative-nationalist Horthy regime in the 1930s and 1940s, just as she styled the communist elite after 1956.

Her motto: "Every woman wants to look good, and I can help them." 

During World War II, she was spared deportation to the gas chambers of the Holocaust. Her salon even escaped the attention of Hungary's infamous laws depriving Jews of their property.

During World War II, she was spared deportation to the gas chambers of the Holocaust. Her salon even escaped the attention of Hungary's infamous laws depriving Jews of their property.

Legend has it she was still searching for a venue for a fashion show as German troops were preparing to invade Budapest in December 1944. 

Politics did not bother Rotschild. After the war, her fashion expertise was...