Our Story

KELE is an independent knitwear label run by a small group of people based in Budapest. We make timeless, simple clothes with a sense of fun and a healthy dose of colour.

KELE was established in 2011 by designer Ildikó Kele and two close friends who shared the same love of beautiful things. They wanted to create something new and surprising for the market using the finest yarns you can find. Something vibrant and fresh but still classic. It’s all about drawing upon tradition in order to create something new.

KELE’s story begins in the early 2000’s when Ildikó saw a knitting machine in action for the first time. She was amazed, and spent many hours just staring at the needles catching yarn over and over to create stitches. She became fascinated with the freedom a knitting machine can give to a designer. She was already imagining endless variations of form, structure and motif. She knew straight away that this was what she wanted to do. It might sound a bit odd to you, but for her, that realisation was liberating. For her, the hard physical work is just as important as the design process. Ildikó is an active contributor at every little step of the design and sampling process. Thanks to her parents, she was born into a tradition that’s rarely seen nowadays where you think about sustainability and a sense of quality. She strives to perfect even the tiniest of details; that’s why every garment has a soul and a very personal story to tell.

Now, after thousands of meters of yarn, countless hours of work, and many years of experimentation we at KELE are presenting two seasonal collections every year. Our aim is to make clothes as well as we possibly can.

Let the thing you make be the thing you love. That’s what we do.

Local manufacturing

We take great pride in working only with local artisans, combining their years of experience in quality craftsmanship with the finest materials.

Our manufacturing decisions are mainly driven by the type of hand work, construction and craftsmanship. True understanding of traditional knitting techniques are the special strengths of each of our partner knitting factories, along with the ability and willingness to constantly improve and develop new and quality products.

Working with a local team of craftsmen gives us the opportunity to execute our vision in the most exact and precise manner possible.

As a result all garments are locally handcrafted in Hungary, in small family-run knitting manufactures. You can feel the clothes were designed with care, attention and lots of love.

#SharingIsMultiplying

Started in 2014 #SharingIsMultiplying is a special side project of KELE with items designed specifically for charity. No, it is not a simple fundraiser with a flashy but blank campaign. It is an alternative form of raising cash for good. From time to time KELE will be launching a limited edition collection of garments to raise awareness for different social issues where all proceeds will go to charity. Our goal is to provide a long-term commitment to financing worthwhile causes, based on the creative and artistic work of those we’re trying to help.

Please help us give and let’s make a positive impact on communities, together.

For more information please visit: sharingismultiplying.com