ABOUT AKIYO MATSUOKA
Akiyo launched her design career in 1993 with an assignment to develop pieces for the Escada 1994 spring/summer and fall/winter jewelry collections. She was selected as a 1994 Diamonds-International Awards finalist and graduated with honors from Parsons School of Design in New York City.
The jewelry designs of Akiyo Matsuoka encompass the perfect union of nature, music and sculptural design. Incorporating the human form as an element of her designs, Akiyo’s artistry poetically joins forms of nature with a sophisticated aesthetic sensibility.
“The universal tempos that shape the natural world also inspire my designs.” Akiyo’s career as a jewelry designer was a naturaltransformation from her career as a musician. From an early age, Akiyo tapped the currents of rhythm in her surroundings and expressed what she saw and felt through her fingers, on the keys of her piano. She continues to tap these same
currents as a source of inspiration for her 18 karat gold designs, which she molds into fluid forms that are both comfortable and sensual. Akiyo embodies the essence of her inspirations in wearable art, which she refers to as “Silhouettes of Nature” worn by numerous celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Lucy Liu and Star Jones among others.
Akiyo Matsuoka fine jewelry designs have appeared in Vogue, Town and Country, Bride, In Style, Cosmopolitan, W, Vanity Fair and others. In addition her fine jewelry collections have been featured in luxury department stores and specialty retailers in the U.S. and abroad including Neiman Marcus, Takashimaya NY, Nordstroms, Wako Japan and Lane Crawford Hong Kong.
Akiyo is a faculty at 3 major art school in New York City (Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute) and teach jewelry design and Rhino 3D modeling for jewelry, accessories and fashion design students. She also is a consultant, adviser and Rhino 3D modeling trainer for design professionals. Her current and past clients include Harry Winston, Coach, Tiffany & Co., Movado group, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group, West Elm, MPFP and US Air Force.