Arequipa, Peru
Arequipa, Peru
HOME OF AYMARA'S KNITTING FACTORY
round-the-world trip
Aymara is the result of the love story between a Belgian engineer, Sven Van Gucht, and Yannina Esquivias, a young Peruvian travel agent.
After having worked a couple of years as an engineer in thermo dynamics, Sven took a sabbatical year and went on a round-the-world trip. In Peru, he met Yannina, a young travel agent, and they fell in love.
ALPACA CITY
During consecutive stays in Arequipa, Sven found out that Yannina’s home town, Arequipa, turned out to be a real textile hub and the epicenter of the alpaca industry.
He learnt about the excellent quality of the alpaca fibers and discovered that Peru has also one of the world’s finest cottons. Arequipa had a complete ecosystem ranging from small artisan knitting workshops to big industrial yarn manufacturers.
AYMARA, BELGIAN DESIGN & PERUVIAN CRAFTSMANSHIP
Yannina and Sven quit their jobs and started a knitting factory in Peru together with Yannina’s family.
In 2007, the ethical knitwear brand Aymara was born. The name Aymara refers to a native ethnic group in the Andes of South America.
The magic of Aymara lies in the combination of Belgian design and Peru’s extraordinary fibers and textile craftsmanship.
AYMARA'S KNITTING FACTORY
We started low key with artisan hand driven knitting machines. This is how the Aymara sweaters were made during the first years.
Nowadays, Aymara has it's own knitting factory with state of the art industrial knitting machines . We are proud that people who used to knit on the artisan machines still work with us and are now operators or even programmers of the modern machines.
AUTHENTIC
We believe that in today's world of fast fashion and mass consumption, a growing number of people is looking for authentic products with a soul.
When buying Aymara, you are sure to get longlasting, sustainable products with an extraordinary story.