Rachel
on the Go
by: Rachel Ulloa
Alpaca
Style
Cashmere, terry cloth and silk
are some of the fabrics
people are familiar with. But I
am going to switch it up, so
buckle your seat belts and
put your hands in the air and
allow me to reintroduce the
alpaca. Alpaca wool is taking
currently the fashion industry
by storm. Designers are using
alpaca fiber in their designs
while at the same time also
staying on the safe side with
regards to animal activists.
They are able to harvest the
a
fibres from the animal without
having to kill it. Take a look
at these beautiful alpacas in
Arequipa, Peru.
The alpaca is very similar to a lama and can
found in countries in South America such
as Southern Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and
Chile. The alpaca is not only an adorable
animal but fashionable as well. Fibers from
our fury friends are now being used in
sweaters, ponchos and hats to name a
few.
I wanted to find out more about this latest
trend and spoke to Leila Kalousek from
Godettes Peru, who deals exclusively from
high end imports from their native country. Leila is based in Manhattan, New York,
and she believes Peruvian baby alpaca
fiber is fast becoming a fashion movement. Leila, together with other Peruvians
in the fashion industry, is trying to educate
people about the alpaca fiber.
Leila explained that there are about 6 million alpacas in Peru, however, a third of
these die every year due to the country’s
cold weather. Farmers therefore have no
choice but to recycle the fur and due to
high demand they can supply to designers
the world over. In Peru alpaca’s are bred
for their fur and not for their meat. This off
course is music to this blogger’s ears as I’m
a huge animal lover!