Information about Alpacas

Thousands of years ago the ancient South America civilization prized the alpaca for their luxurious fleece . In the Incan culture alpaca fleece was reserved for royalty only. Almost 90% of the alpaca population diminished during the 1500s Spanish Conquest of the Incas. Due to the South American natives and the alpacas ability to live in high altitudes and cold climate conditions they were able to populate again.

In the mid 1800s, alpaca garments were used by Europeans and Victorian Era North Americans. Ancestors of the alpacas once roamed the plains region of North America and eventually migrated to Asia evolving into camels. Alpaca are members of the camelid family and are distance cousins to camels and closely related to Llamas. The closet relative is the vicuna which has the finest undercoat of all camelids.

It was not until the mid 1980s that the importation of Alpacas into the United States was possible.

The two most common types of alpaca that are used for garment purposes is the Suri (long, pencil sized ringlets) and Huacayas (shorter and fuzzier).

Alpaca fleece comes in 22 natural colors. Besides the softness of the fleece it has superior insulating ability without weight. This fiber breaths with your body which reduces overheating. It also can shed water, keeping you warm even when it is wet.

Alpaca fleece is three times warmer than wool and five times stronger. It has no lanolin and no chemicals are used in mill production and doe's not require dry cleaning.

Huacaya Alpacas