Interview with Christina Remenyi: Fortnight Lingerie

When I attended the Fortnight Studio sale around a month ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Fortnight’s founder and designer, Christina Remenyi. Her enthusiasm for her own work was refreshing, and inspired me to do something I’ve yet to do in over a year of blogging- an interview! It’s rare that I feel invested enough in a brand to ask for an interview, but in terms of styling, ethics and philosophy, Fortnight and I are a perfect match and I could no longer resist. Here is what Christina Remenyi had to say about her brand, the manufacturing process, and what we can expect from Fortnight in up and coming seasons.

—

I’m sure you get this question all of the time, but could you summarize “Fortnight” for readers who are new to the brand? Who wears Fortnight? What influences it?

Fortnight is an indie lingerie label that combines modern styling with classic tailoring to create garments that are as beautiful as they are comfortable.
We carefully construct each garment by hand in our Toronto studio with a high regard for attention to detail. We are constantly influenced by women and beautiful forms found in nature.

Mira long line in peach and sky blue and bikini bottoms

I’ve always loved the name “Fortnight,” how did you come to choose it?

Our size structure follows British sizing (which includes DD) so I thought it would be fitting to choose an old English word.  Fortnight really grabbed me because it definitely has a powerful element to it, which I was looking for.  The semantics of the word lend themselves nicely to lingerie as well.

Luna long line in champagne and ivory and high waist bottoms

Can you tell us a bit about your business practice? Is it difficult to be a growing business committed to local manufacturing?

Manufacturing locally definitely has its challenges, but also many rewards.  We more or less do everything in house, including designing, developing and fit testing sizes, as well as sample making, production and marketing.  I love the hands on approach and can’t imagine being so far away from the product as it’s being made.  There are more costs involved with producing locally, but I truly believe that manufacturing on a smaller scale makes garments that fit and last longer than mass manufactured brands.

Mira body in black

I read that you had considered being a librarian- do you have a favourite book?

I’m currently reading the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and I’m absolutely in love with it.

Lyra bandeau and high waist bottoms

I’m always curious to hear from any artist if they have a favourite piece amongst their own work. Do you have a favourite piece of Fortnight lingerie, or do you see all of them all on a similar level?

I think my favourite piece would be the Mira longline in black.  It’s classic and goes with absolutely everything! That and the Mira bodysuit are in my regular rotation.

Mira long line in black and high waist bottoms

 Your wireless longline bras manage to give a great shape to the smaller end of the full bust spectrum (30F, 32E, etc), and are also the only wireless bras that have managed to do so for me. What goes into constructing these bras? How do you choose what fabrics to use?

I’m so thrilled to hear that! Choosing our fabrics is a really tricky and a process we take very seriously.  The only way we can know if it works is to draft up a sample.  The right fabric has to have many elements working for it at the same time.  It must be soft and delicate, yet durable and strong for support.

My personal favourite from Spring/Summer 2014 collection, Vega long line in sky blue!

I’m loving the Abstract Impressionist themed collection for Spring/Summer 2014, what sort of design influence can we expect for Autumn/Winter 2014?

We had so much fun with the SS14 theme and campaign and are really excited about AW14, which plays off a more subdued and smokey colour pallet found in various rocks and minerals.  The colours are very different than anything we’ve done in previous collections.

Luna Bodice in champagne and ivory

The exciting addition of your basics collection for Spring/Summer 2014 has me wondering if we’ll see any other new changes to Fortnight? Perhaps size expansions or new styles?

Absolutely! We’re always adding to our size and style range.  Stay tuned for a romper and some thongs in the season ahead…

Vega demi bra in peach with bikini bottoms

Given that the theme of this blog is lingerie AND video games I must ask, do you enjoy video games? Have a favourite?

Mira slip in black