THE PEOPLE OF THE BLUE SKY

A Journey into the Hearth of the Andes.

My Experience with Inca Tops and Peru

I. Introduction – The Calling of the Andes

"Para mí solo recorrer los caminos que tienen corazón, cualquier camino que tenga corazón. Por ahí yo recorro, y la única prueba que vale es atravesar todo su largo. Y por ahí yo recorro mirando, mirando, sin aliento." — Don Juan Matus

There are places that call you before you even know them. For me, Peru was one of those. A remote, powerful land, guardian of an archaic Nature and a culture that weaves together millennia, spirituality, and artisanal mastery. When I had the opportunity to work with the Inca Group, and particularly with Inca Tops, I felt something both closing and opening at once. As if that path with a heart, cited by Don Juan, had revealed itself.

II. The First Encounter – From Intuition to Collaboration

My collaboration with Inca Tops began over ten years ago. From the very start, it was an empathetic choice: when I was offered the opportunity to work with the Inca Group, based in Arequipa, Peru, in the Andes, it felt as if a long-held wish was about to come true.

My studio, Riccardo Rami Studio, has always directed its work toward partners who share authentic values: respect for materials, harmony with nature, attention to the human dimension. Inca Group embodied all of this in a real, tangible project.

François Pattey came to visit me with his wife Sylvie. We had lunch at OpificioJM, and he proposed a collaboration with Incalpaca and Inca Tops. That’s how the Peruvian adventure began. My first trip to Arequipa felt like a dream coming true. An immediate connection with the land, with the people, and with the ethical and conscious approach that defines the entire supply chain.

III. From Herd to Hank – The Philosophy of Inca Tops

In 2019, I collaborated on the development of the project "From the Farm to the Customer," which took shape in July 2020. A true LIFE-FOR-LIFE project.

The title itself encapsulates the entire philosophy of Inca Tops: an integrated journey that accompanies the fiber from the farm to the customer's desk, passing through all stages of the supply chain, always with respect for people and materials.

PACOMARCA, the Farm-Lab located in the Andes, is the beating heart of this system. Here, sustainable and attentive genetic selection is practiced, combined with breeding methods that ensure animal welfare.

From this foundation, the project THE SHADES OF THE ANDES was born: yarns with 100% natural colors, from Fawn to Black, obtained by selectively breeding animals to have entirely uniform coats. While Alpaca is known for its beautiful natural shades, at Pacomarca, the alpacas have been genetically selected into eight colors, in various fineness levels. The Black, the most fascinating, allows for the creation of garments and fabrics in a natural black: its production is the rarest and most precious.

IV. Labors of Love – The Thread That Stitches Stories

When I began to think of the best solution to create a unique, captivating, and coherent layout for the Hand Knitting project, images of fairy tales, animals, and enchanted landscapes immediately came to mind. Because each yarn was, in its own way, a love story.

Yarns are the result of a patient and loving process: from raising animals in harmony with Nature, to shearing, fiber selection, and spinning. Everything happens through expert, mindful hands.

Thus, the idea was born to accompany each group of yarns with a hand-painted watercolor illustration, evoking the poetic and vibrant world from which the fibers originated. Exotic animals, surreal landscapes, fairy-tale characters and stories. Large animals, like whales and elephants, for bulkier yarns; light and delicate animals, like herons, for finer ones.

They were, to me, the Guardians of the Yarns, belonging to a fairy-tale and imaginary world that perfectly matched the soul of those who knit, creating a world of fantasy with their own hands. Because knitting is a philosophy of thought, a way of seeing life and the world. A meditative act, a thread that weaves together time, memory, and affection. A true Labour of Love.

Labors of Love

V. A Shared Vision – Nature, Respect, Future

The work with Inca Tops was much more than a collaboration: it was a natural alignment of visions. A vision that places living matter at the center, the hands that transform it, and the respect for the time needed to do it well.

Peru, with its majestic and simple nature, acted as a mirror and amplifier of this vision. The Andes entered — or perhaps were already there — into my work, into my way of listening to and interpreting materials.

In a world that is increasingly fast-paced and impersonal, my vision of the future aligns deeply with what I have experienced every time I go to Arequipa: a simple, powerful life philosophy, based on authentic relationships, shared time, and mutual respect.

It is up there, sheltered by the Andes, under that powerful sun that shines in the blue sky of Arequipa for over nine months a year, that I rediscovered the importance of the human gesture. A feeling I carry with me, like an invisible thread connecting today with what is yet to come.

Pacomarca

A Buen Retiro

When I am in Arequipa, I always stay at the Maison d'Élise, a small hotel in the city center that looks like a secret village. The rooms climb upward, nestled among white walls and deep brick tones, in a simple, local cubical style. When I arrive, I’m welcomed with a warm "Buenos días, señor Rami," and at night with a "Buenas noches." Everyone knows me. Even breakfast has become a small family ritual. There, I feel welcomed, like at home.

Hotel Maison d'Elise

Magical Encounters

Sometimes, during my trips, I meet an old lady who once approached me in the lobby of the Maison d'Élise, with her oil paintings depicting sacred subjects: Madonnas, angels, knights, Saint Michael. They are painted in a Hispanic-colonial style, with bold colors, red hearts, and thick, vibrant gold.

She seemed like an old bruja. In Peru, this figure has deep roots, often intertwined with shamanic practices and traditional medicine. Brujas are seen as healers, seers, guardians of ancient knowledge. In Andean communities, witchcraft is deeply connected to spirituality and nature. Shamans and brujas invoke the spirits of the mountains (Apus) and use herbs and rituals to protect and heal.

Since then, every time I meet her, I take one or two paintings. The last time I saw her, after more than a year, she immediately recognized me: "Riccardito!" she said, with genuine affection. A small, precious moment.

Magical Encounters

La Ciudad Blanca

And then there are the people of Arequipa, always smiling, radiant. Perhaps it's thanks to the nine or ten months of clear skies that illuminate the city, or the fact that the rainy season is short, from late January to March. In Lima, they say that people from Arequipa have brilliant minds because they live under a sun that never leaves them.

Arequipa is also known as La Ciudad Blanca, because it is built with sillar, a white, porous volcanic stone that reflects the sunlight in an enchanting way. This unique and living material gives the city an almost unreal appearance, as if suspended in time and light. Walking among its pale walls under the blue sky is a chromatic and sensory experience that feels magical.

In twelve years, many of the people I met at Inca Tops are still there. Some recently arrived, others have always been there. With them, a strong bond was formed, built on esteem, friendship, and consistency. We have walked together: from creating collections to presenting them, from selecting yarns to standing together at Pitti.

Arequipa "La Ciudad Blanca"

Faces in the Weave of Memory

Over the years, I have walked alongside many people in a silent yet constant dialogue of friendship, vision, and small shared gestures. Faces I carry with me as living parts of this journey...

I think of Roxana — skilled, ever-smiling — who oversaw research and development of yarns, guiding the entire creative process: from blends to colors, from spinning to twisting, right through to the special machines. She retired just a month ago. We had worked together from the very beginning.

Everything grew in an organic, shared, and harmonious way. Perhaps that, in itself, is the true miracle. And what about the restaurants, which have become familiar places to me: Tio da Rio, Manta, El Chicha. Fantastic cuisine, with the flavors of a generous land. Every lunch or dinner is a celebration, a moment to look forward to, especially when the table is shared with friends.

VI. Conclusion – The Path with a Heart Continues

This experience has been, and still is, one of the most beautiful chapters of my journey. When I think of Arequipa, when I speak with the people at Inca Tops, whether by phone or video call — people I now consider friends — I feel like I’m there with them.

In the thread that starts in the Andes and reaches us, there is much more than a production process: there is a message, a choice, a possibility. The sun, the energy, the smile, the respect with which Alpaca fiber is carried all the way to the consumer's table are unique and unknown to most.

In my work, I have always tried to follow paths with a heart. And with Peru, it has been that way, even before setting foot there. Because paths with a heart are the only ones that truly give us energy and leave a powerful, positive, and indelible mark within us and in our lives.

The Path with the Heart Continue