100% Baby Alpaca Shawl in Solid Taupe from Peru - Simple Beauty in Taupe

Artisan Organization: Nataly and Alberto

Country: Peru

Nataly and Alberto are a great team of friends and partners who love what they do and believe that everything you do passionately will prosper in time. This is what they want to achieve.

"I was born in 1987 in the city of Arequipa in southern Peru," Nataly says. "My country is very rich in resources, history, and traditions. It has splendid geography with beautiful colonial cities, which are surrounded by green country landscapes and steep volcanoes.

"I consider myself to be a decisive and sociable woman. I spent a large part of my life in Arequipa, where I studied industrial engineering. I've wanted to work with alpaca wool for as long as I can remember. The beauty of those animals and the benefits of their fleece impressed me from a young age. Growing up in Arequipa, I had the opportunity to get to know these noble animals, as well as the alpaca textile industry, which is one of the most important industries in my community."

Alberto continues, "Like Nataly, I was born in Arequipa in 1985. I consider myself an organized, curious, and sociable man. Following my studies in business administration, I worked and gained experience in different fields but, without a doubt, working with alpaca wool has been the best. The alpaca tradition in Arequipa is very important, and Nataly and I have been involved in this field in one way or another most of our lives, as we have acquaintances and friends who have worked in alpaca for years. This is how we came to love this animal and its fleece.

"The alpaca is one of the most beautiful and peculiar animals in the world. We are fortunate that the greatest population of alpacas is located in the Andes. Not only are they friendly, but they are one of the 'greenest' in the world, since they do not deforest the land they live in and they have more efficient eating habits than other pastoral animals. Their wool is soft, brilliant, and light but, at the same time, very warm and durable. It's impossible to not fall in love with this natural fiber.

"The inspiration for our designs comes from our mountains, with their colors, their people, and their traditions. Working with alpacas is an ancestral Peruvian knowledge that is handed down from generation to generation, from the men and women who raise alpacas to the expert hands that select the wool, the spinners, the weavers, and all who are involved in this process. Not only have we found a form of sustenance, but we have found a passion, as well.

"Our plans for the future are, without a doubt, to continue growing and sharing the best of our work, maintaining high quality standards in each one of our designs.""