Twice As Nice: Business Partners, Twin Sisters, and Jewelry Lovers Kathryn and Lizzie Fortunato Celebrate 10 Years in Business
Twice As Nice: Business Partners, Twin Sisters, and Jewelry Lovers Kathryn and Lizzie Fortunato Celebrate 10 Years in Business
Most of the guests at Kathryn and Lizzie Fortunato’s 10th anniversary dinner didn’t realize their placemats actually told a story. (Maybe we were distracted by the “cake” in the front of The Fat Radish, which was actually made from jewelry and other odds and ends from their studio!) Upon closer inspection, each place setting mapped out a timeline of the business-partners-slash-twin sisters-slash-best-friends’ lives together: In 1984, Lizzie was born, and “19 minutes later, Kathryn, ‘the bonus baby,’ was born” (their parents didn’t know they were having twins!). By the mid-‘90s, Kathryn was getting straight-A’s in middle school while Lizzie was obsessed with sewing classes. Fast-forward to 2003, when the sisters hosted their first “trunk show” in their Duke University dorm room with handmade necklaces. And by 2008—just after their 24th birthday—Lizzie presented her first collection to buyers.
Ten years later, business is booming, and the Fortunatos are feeling more inspired than ever. It’s a heartwarming success story, not only because they’re sisters, but because their jewelry has never wavered from Lizzie’s colorful, maximalist, charming vision. In her speech, Kathryn, who takes care of the business side, spoke of Lizzie’s boundless creativity and the “thousands” of unique pieces she’s made over the years. Most of the women in the room were wearing at least one piece of LF jewelry: freshwater pearl chokers, giant floral earrings, beaded necklaces, weighty Lucite cuffs. To that end, Kathryn also thanked the buyers in the room: “Thank you for buying our collections, even when everyone only wanted to wear dainty gold jewelry.” It got a lot of laughs. Of course, the reason their label survived that minimal era—and many other trends since—is because it has so much heart.
