The Highlands

Southeast of Cusco, where the Andes rise into the Cordillera Vilcanota, the land climbs past 4,000 metres above sea level until the grasslands give way to rock, wind, and glacial ice. This is the edge of Quelccaya — the largest tropical ice cap on Earth — and it is on these slopes, in the communities of Quelcaya and Chacaconiza, in the province of Carabaya, Puno, that our alpaca fibre begins. Here, alpaca raising is part of a way of life passed from one generation to the next, older than any brand and unhurried by one.

We work with Quechua Alpaca, a Peruvian company working directly with farming communities in Puno. Their work provides traceability for the fibre we use and follows fair-trade principles, with a focus on responsible animal raising, working conditions and long-term relationships with the communities involved. The families who herd here know their animals individually — which ones lag behind on a long walk, which graze at the edge of the group, which fleece will be the softest come shearing time. It's a knowledge built over generations at altitude, not written in any manual.

Shearing happens only between October and March, timed to the mountain's own calendar rather than a production one — enough warmth to protect the animals from cold exposure, enough shade season to protect them from the sun. Here, the herd's welfare sets the pace.

For us, this connection matters. Not because a product needs a story added to it, but because knowing where something comes from is part of knowing its true value.