A Natural Choice

Human beings have long made use of animal products to make clothing, and natural materials are still considered superior to manmade alternatives. In different parts of the world, people learned how to get the best from nature, and bred animals that carried large fleeces which could be shorn off and made into a variety of garments.

For thousands of years alpacas have been a vital part of life for cultures in the Andes range of South America, and were traditionally used both for meat and for their fleece. Many are surprised to learn that all alpacas are from domesticated stock. The closest living wild relative of the alpaca is the vicuna and it is widely believed that these are the alpaca's ancestor. There are several species of camelid living in South America, and one of the most well known across the wider world is the llama. Many who are not familiar with the alpaca will misidentify them as llamas, but to those in the know there are some clear differences, with size being the most obvious! Whereas an adult llama can be up to 6 feet tall from its feet to the top of its head, an alpaca is usually one or two feet shorter. This difference reflects the different traditional uses of the animals, llamas were, and still are, used as pack animals, whereas alpacas were used solely for food and fibre.

Today alpacas are prized across the world for the qualities of their fleece. Alpaca clothing has a number of advantages over other wool products; it has a silky, soft and luxurious texture and is not prickly against bare skin as sheep wool often is. The absence of lanolin in the wool also means that it is hypoallergenic, making alpaca clothing an option for those who cannot wear ordinary wool, and for young children and babies. It is easy to see why alpaca clothing is gaining more and more popularity in countries such as the UK, as more and more people learn to appreciate the material that the people of the Andes have crafted for generations.

The immense character of the alpaca is another reason why they are now commonly kept in a number of different countries. Their behaviours and interactions are both interesting and entertaining, alpacas are social animals that live in family groups comprising of an alpha male, females and young. Not many people realise that alpacas are quite hygienic for grazing animals - they have a particular area which they use as a ‘toilet', this use of a specific dung pile helps to keep most grazing land cleaner and helps prevent the spread of internal parasites. These animals are often naturally quite nervous around strangers, but can be tamed and like to be stroked by familiar, trusted humans.

Today there is a wide variety of alpaca clothing available in the UK, and trusted producers make high quality garments for people of all ages from baby booties, dresses and mittens to elegant, comfortable and practical sweaters and scarves. Where there is a need for high quality, hypoallergenic garments, alpaca clothing can provide a solution.