Designers on the Rise

by Jennifer Sauer

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Getting intimate

It couldn’t be more fitting that lingerie designer Amy Bryant designs and sews intimate apparel in her bedroom. “For my birthday a few years ago, friends built me an eight- by four-foot cutting table, which I squeezed in next to my bed,” she explains. “I pile the boxes and boxes of my fabric collection underneath it.”

Bryant, age 35, took up sewing a little over five years ago, during a stint as a nanny. According to her, “sewing to pass the time (while the kids were in school) quickly turned into an obsession.” After an internship at an intimate apparel company in Westport, “I started making my own lingerie, then began selling to friends.” From there, Bryant’s collection of sexy yet comfortable bras, panties and chemises, named Head 2 Toes, has gained a following through word of mouth.

“I’m pushing the envelope lately with a skull-and-crossbones line, and next plan to experiment with corsets,” she reveals. Both of which are a far cry from her religious upbringing in rural Maine. “I grew up on a farm, my father is a deacon, and on the surface, I’m pretty shy and conservative. I guess you could say that my wild side comes out in my work.”