Our materials: Alpaca wool


Why we believe is good for you

Once you touch an alpaca piece you will feel it.

Alpaca is famous for its softness among other natural wool fibers. And is preferred by many allergy sufferers due to its hypoallergenic qualities. That is so because it hardly contains any wool fat and respectively no lanolin. Which makes it also much softer while eliminating the irritating that you can normally get from other wool.

Another great quality is its temperature regulating properties. An alpaca garment will keep you warm without weighing you down, but it will cool you just as well when it is warm.

Moreover when compared with synthetic fibers, Alpaca wool offers many advantages some of which are; odor resistance, flame resistance, stain resistance, wicks away body moisture and it’s naturally windproof.

Why we believe is sustainable

One of the main things that makes this fiber so sustainable is the Alpaca itself.  Due to the fact that they cut the grass they eat instead of pulling it out from the ground they are considered a better and more eco-friendly option than the cashmere goats for example. This way of eating reduces environmental impact as it allows for the grass to keep growing. Furthermore their soft padded feet are gentle on the soil and far less destructive than the sheep or goat hooves. 

Alpaca fibers have one of the biggest natural range of colors and produce enough wool a year to produce 4 to 5 sweaters. And lastly alpaca is a part of Peru’s textile heritage and using alpaca fibers directly contributes to the livelihood of indigenous communities who often live under the poverty line.

If you are curious about alpacas see here

Why we believe our Suppliers

Elementum love for alpaca started long ago. We meet our supplier in Italy at one of the biggest yarn trade shows in the beautiful city of Florence. In this show there were many yarn companies exhibiting but my choice was easy because I was only interested in sustainable yarns. Still there were a few suppliers but Michelle was the most committed to sustainability. Since then we are working together. 

Michelle is a 90 year old company based in Arequipa, Peru. 

They have the following certifications and licenses: RESPONSIBLE WOOL STANDARD Certification (RWS), GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD GOTS LETIS 2535/ 2019, ORGANIC BLENDED CONTENT STANDARD, ORGANIC 100% CONTENT STANDARD No LETIS 2535, Certified by Control Union Certifications  C847906EU-01.2020, Certified by Control Union Certifications C847906NOP-01.2020, OEKO-TEX STANDARD Confidence in Textiles,12.HPE. 14517 HOHENSTEIN HTTI tested for harmful.

Michell commitment to sustainability also includes their Mirasol Project to support the children of communities in Mallkini, Munani and Neque Neque in Puno with their education through the Mirasol School, and their Michell Art Contest with the purpose to support and motivate the development of talented Peruvian artists with limited economic resources.

If you still want to learn more about our alpaca wool supplier you can find more information on their website.

Production Process: https://www.michell.com.pe/michell/michell-alpaca-history/production-process

Animal Welfare: https://www.michell.com.pe/michell/origins-by-michell-sustainable-programmes/animal-walfare

Fair Trade: https://www.michell.com.pe/michell/origins-by-michell-sustainable-programmes/fair-trade

Elementum pieces are designed as relationships. It is important to share with you all the connections they have, so that your relationship with your Elementum pieces will be as positive, slow, enjoyable and meaningful as it can be.

If you want to know more about our production and the materials we use check here or email us at contact@elementum.store we will be happy to share more information with you.