A Bulgarian fashion studio that started 24 years ago with just two or three sewing machines and a small cutting table in Karlovo has won a design award at fashion week in the Chinese city of Qingdao. Atelier Banderol, founded in 2002 by Desislava Damyanova and Nikola Karadamyanov, is the first Bulgarian brand honoured at the event, held in China's Shandong province, after it showed a collection of 30 women's and men's designs on 25 September.
An invitation from the Bulgarian Fashion Association
The Shandong Fashion Designers Association organised the event, and its deputy chairman, Zhang Chunwei, handed over the award. Damyanova and Karadamyanov took the stage in Qingdao at the invitation of the Bulgarian Fashion Association (BFA), which picked Banderol to represent the country with an original collection. The BFA was set up in Ruse and made its first public appearance at the Texteiler Expo in Plovdiv, where more than 40 Bulgarian brands showed clothes and accessories alongside exhibitors from Romania, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey and China. Lingerie brand Bijou, men's shirts by Bulamas, women's and men's wear by Wolf Pride, and children's clothes by Fashion.bg all showed their lines there. Along with Banderol, the association's founding members include Toni K, Deon BG, Eve Style, Mir AD, Kare, Kaya Design and Stone Heart. "We want to use every chance we get to show Bulgarian fashion, so more Bulgarian makers start producing their own products," says BFA chair Silvia Kabaivanova. She adds that the association wants the industry to rely less on outsourced work — where sewing shops just make someone else's design and never earn a profit from a brand of their own — so jobs in clothing making can be saved.
Two boutiques in Karlovo
The Qingdao collection brought together Bulgarian design and Chinese style. Some pieces draw on Chinese culture, filtered through the studio's own look, with embroidery and decorative touches, and the fabric came specially from Chinese makers. The design team is known for "original silhouettes, precise cutting and a red-carpet presence," and the same collection, "Prestige 2026," was also shown at Ruse Fashion Week this autumn. The studio started out taking individual orders. Damyanova and Karadamyanov opened their first boutique at 12 Ivaylo Street in Karlovo in 2006, and from 2010 built up a line of formal suits and dresses, after earlier making work uniforms for hotels and companies. In 2018 they opened a second boutique in the town centre, with bridal wear, formalwear and haute couture collections. The brand is now one of 18 clothing shops in Karlovo, with a customer rating of 4.9 out of 5.
Exports fall and jobs are cut in the clothing industry
By September 2025, Bulgaria's exports of textiles, clothing and leather goods were down about 8% to 10% on the year before, and 6,000 to 7,000 workers in the sector have lost their jobs this year alone. Manufacturers blame weak demand from shoppers in Germany, Italy and France, buyers who still pay 2018 and 2019 prices, and orders shifting to cheaper producers in Asia and North Africa. There is a shortage of workers, the workforce is ageing, and energy and labour costs are rising faster than output.