Inspirational Amano Designer, Yumiko Suzuki

In 1989 on a visit to Quito in Ecuador, I met with John Ortman, who ran a very successful and tasteful artisan shop with his wife Jill, called “La Bodega”. He made annual trips to Bolivia to buy artifacts, textiles and other bit and pieces to sell in his shop and he recommended we go there together as he was sure that there would be something for me to buy and sell back in the UK. Over the dinner table he said,” James, I’m going to take you to Bolivia where you’ll find something”.

Designs full of colour and simplicity

Arriving in La Paz always takes your breath away; physically, as it is of course the highest capital city in the world at 3,650 m (11,975 ft), but also visually. The sheer beauty of the location, set among volcanoes, and with so much colour and life humming along on top of the world, it really is magical.

I walked into a shop in the tourist area on Sagarnaga in the centre of the old city of La Paz and was struck by a small collection of hand-knit sweaters on a rack. There were four or five styles, full of colour and simplicity, not over designed or pretentious in anyway. They worked and were simply the best thing I had seen anywhere in South America. Here I found the work of Yumiko Suzuki.

The shop assistant made a call and spoke to Toshy, Yumiko’s husband, a meeting was arranged and within a couple of days I wanted to buy everything they could produce! I loved it that much.

Amano Designs

One of the designs that I first saw in the shop in La Paz was so simple, it was executed with such balance and thought, it was perfect. Yumi had managed to get herself a shigra bag from Ecuador. This is made from sisal, dyed and crocheted with simple patterns, it is beautiful in texture and colour. This was Yumi’s beginning, and in many ways, it was how Amano differentiated itself from other knitwear being produced in South America at that time.

Yumiko was an incredible person. I would get to learn a lot about her over the next 25 years. She was talented in everything she turned her hand to; in her knitwear she managed to create and control the production of the best sweaters in South America.

She created something the rest of the world could only imagine. Not only were her designs striking but she also managed to use the hand-spun, coarse wool yarn available locally to produce a deep and consistent range of colours.

As time progressed, Yumi worked with our designers in the UK, as well as continuing to produce her own designs. We would travel to New York, Paris and London to do shows and look around, to identify the latest trends and to find new ideas.

She knew she would find inspiration in the world around her, whether it was the pencil case in front of her, the pattern on a cushion, or a small detail from a Gucci or Balenciaga item. She was always looking to develop her production, working with fine yarns from Peru, or the coarsely spun and woven sack cloth that she created clothing with. All was so distinctive.

Yumiko Suzuki died in March 2017. She was a beautiful, fiercely determined, committed, creative, musically gifted and truly inspirational person. She was married to Toshy, who was her partner in the business and who made things happen. He looked after the logistics, leaving her free to create. She had two wonderful kids Mai and Tomo. She is greatly missed.