The beauty of alpaca wool
Alpaca wool is sourced exclusively from the highlands, where alpacas live freely with no other cultivation. Their natural habitat includes high mountain foothills in extraordinarily tough climate at 3,500 to 5,000 meters above sea level. This ensures us that both the environment and animals are intact from any chemicals and makes their wool sustainable. They feed gently nibbling only the tops of grasses and other plants, as opposed to ripping roots out of the ground, which results in less soil erosion and depletion. Alpacas are also gentle with the land, as they don’t have sharp hooves like sheep or goats, which minimizes their effect on pastures and makes them one of the most environmentally friendly animal in the world.
The secret of processing alpaca wool has been handed down over many generations, and we honour these timeless traditions through every step of our manufacturing process. We place a high value on humane and sustainable practices, allowing us to create many limited edition items.
The quality of the final product depends heavily on the source materials, which is why we source our yarn only from suppliers who obtain it directly from communities in Peru that use sustainable herding and harvesting methods. The processing of alpaca fibre is a long and complicated process due to the hair’s fine, soft and slippery texture. These artisanal communities use highly refined finishing processes to ensure the timeless beauty and durability of our end product.
Where tradition and modernity meet
Alpacas are simply too valuable to be killed for their fur, so we only use the pelts from animals that have died a natural death, meaning we are using a product that might otherwise have been wasted. As alpacas live for over 20 years, the loss of even a single animal represents a significant economic loss to the farmer. By using the fur, they are able to gain some small compensation for this loss, while we live our value of no wastage. We take pride in creating unique and sustainable pieces that last a lifetime, and hope you will too.
When it comes to fur, there is no better way to judge the quality than to use your sense of touch, which is why we handpick only the finest furs directly from local communities. Our tanning masters are all based in Peru, and come from the same local communities who produce the wool. The hides we use are tanned using methods perfected over hundreds of years, bolstered and underpinned by modern knowledge and quality control. We avoid shortcuts and mechanized solutions, as the investment of time and effort involved in the traditional methods produce a vastly superior product. There is simply no substitute for the luxury, richness, and soul of the real thing.
