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Grazing Alpaca in the Peruvian Altiplano.

"It is impossible to tell the story of the people of Peru without also telling the story of the alpaca."

For centuries, alpacas have been a prized and precious possession for the Incan people of Peru. A relative of the llama, the high-elevation loving alpaca has been fundamental to the culture of the region, providing everything from clothing and companionship to serving as the underpinning of an economic system throughout the Andean Altiplano areas of Peru, Bolivia and Chile in the years prior to the Spanish conquest. It is impossible to tell the story of the people of Peru without also telling the story of the alpaca.

Today, alpaca farming remains a lynchpin part of the economy for the indigenous population of the Altiplano, an economically challenged community that faces an anything but certain future in this day and age of climate change and the steady colonialism of capitalism. Celebrated the world over for being stronger than cashmere, warmer than wool, alpaca fleece has seen it’s popularity soar in recent decades and, as a result, the industry has grown well beyond it’s birthplace in the Andes.

From the United States to Australia, alpaca farms can be found all over the globe. However, for the people of the Altiplano, the animal remains critical as ever as both a means to contemporary survival and a direct connection to their heritage. After twenty years in the business, the people from World Textile Sourcing (WTS) are no strangers to this reality. In fact, it underscores much of how they do business and why. To put it simply, when you purchase bulk alpaca fleece from WTS, you know that you are helping water the roots of the community for introducing the wonders of alpaca knits and weaves to the world at-large. The Peruvian headquartered WTS cares about the well-being of the rural mountain communities that support their supply chain, and provide the backbone of the Peruvian alpaca industry. Outerknown’s values align with WTS though the variety of grassroots community betterment projects they help underwrite. There is perhaps no better example of this than the Tierra de Ninos program (Land of Children).

"Outerknown’s values align with WTS though the variety of grassroots community betterment projects they help underwrite."

The "Tierra de Ninos" program in Cusco.

Aimed exclusively at developing the children and youth of economically challenged regions throughout Peru, Tierra has worked tirelessly over the past decade to rollback generations of indigenous disenfranchisement from their traditions and customs while simultaneously better preparing the kids of today for a productive life in the 21st Century. Specifically, in the the past two years alone, Tierra de Ninos has worked with a school in the Racchi Huayllabamba district near Cusco (prime alpaca country) to build and stock a new library, start a textile classroom, erect and plant an educational greenhouse filled with native trees and plants, and secure some much needed audiovisual technology for the school. And they aren’t stopping there. Ongoing efforts by Tierra de Ninos in the same community include the replacement of water pipes and critical school infrastructure like doors and windows as well as the establishment of a pedagogical center for the entire town. Taken in concert, this one program alone stands to radically improve both the current realities and future prospects of some 200 school children. “At the end, these are the things that make me happy.” sums up WTS head Luis Antonio Aspillaga, “Growing doesn’t only mean selling more. It also means having the resources to do these kind of important projects. My dream is to support a hundred more schools similar to this one.” Here at Outerknown, we couldn’t be happier to help in that process.

Born and raised on Cape Cod, Ethan Stewart has been calling Santa Barbara home off and on since that great El Nino winter of 1998. On his way to a career in journalism, Stewart has worked as a bellhop, a carpenter, a surf shop lackey, an overnight security guard on a sprawling Gaviota ranch, a delivery truck driver, a school teacher, and a landscaper. A passionate explorer of Mother Nature's more open and wild places, Stewart reckons Boston Red Sox baseball is the closest thing he has to religion, considers the ocean to be a mandatory daily activity, has been sleeping with sand in his bed for as long as he can remember, and has a dog named Danger.