In starting Amalialad in 2006, I wanted my home situation to provide a context for pursuing a lifelong interest in knitted garments and printed textiles, a continual exploration: taking influences of the past and rethinking them for the future. My focus is on designing and producing thoughtful specialty items, ones you will cherish in your wardrobe for many years.

A friend suggested the name Amalialad (Dalai Lama spelled backwards) as a way to honor our team of Tibetan knitters here in Brooklyn which has worked with me for many years, beginning with my first business Brooklyn Handknit. With these women, we created an enduring workshop environment in which ideas can be realized. With Amalialad, our process starts with ideas sketched on paper, having tea with the knitters, then knitting samples by hand or on the hand loom in the studios, dying up our sample yarn colors and when needed, hand printing some fabric. Sometimes we produce small runs on site in our Brooklyn studio workshop and sometimes we produce larger runs with our Tibetan family run, hand knitting operation in Nepal or with our friends in China.

Although it is a mouthful, the name Amalialad has stuck with me. In my mind, it has such positive associations, as well as references to the cultural dynamics of Tibet, bringing to mind a time with similar dynamics, closer to home, which has also provided me a great deal of inspiration. In the 1920s in Europe, Russian craftspeople made the journey to Paris, bringing their rich crafts tradition to a highly sophisticated cultural center, and in doing so profoundly impacted fashion and textile design. I feel that I have achieved something similar with Amalialad, with its solid foundation and creative context, wonderful things are possible.

Janis Stemmermann