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Textiles of Peru Part 1: The Incas and The Alpacas

11-02-2025   


As the fashion and textile industry seriously addresses its impact on the environment we are seeing a return to one-off or small run production using artisanal techniques with natural, biodegradable fibres. As the saying goes; sometimes you have to look back to go forward, so throughout October, in line with Wool Month, FashionCapital takes a deep dive into Peruvian materials and how their traditions and techniques can inspire textiles and fashion today.

Peruvian textiles will most likely conjure up images of vibrant, woven fabrics featuring repeated patterns and motifs. Peruvian, or Andean quality and style is very distinctive, but where did it come from? The Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco have found textiles dating as far back as 8000 BC, with the interlacing and knotting of woven vegetable fibres. As the eras evolved the woven fibres included cottons and wools, with exceptional examples of embroidery, tapestry, and natural dyeing techniques developed during the Paracas and Nasca (200 – 600 AD) periods.

As inheritors of long established textile traditions the Incas (1200 – 1532) developed regional woven styles to represent a specific village, status or power within the empire. Through the use of repeated geometric symbols and iconography using woven and tapestry techniques the wearer’s status could be instantly identified. 

The Incas were the first civilisation known to domesticate camelids, in particular the llama and alpaca. Trading in material goods the Incas woven textiles became highly desirable. It was during this time that the fleece from the alpaca, in particular, became associated with exceptional quality.  Qompi, Inca textiles made for nobility and royalty, was made from the finest baby alpaca fleece, baby referring to the softest down on an adult alpaca, as opposed to the age of the animal. 

The Incas discovered the silky, soft and fine qualities that the alpaca fleece can provide, further key benefits included:

Thermoregulating: Native to the Andes alpaca fleece is more climate accommodating than sheep’s. Their fibres are completely hollow, this creates greater thermal capacity resulting in microscopic heat traps when needed and can wick moisture away during the hotter months.

Silky Softness: Alpaca is naturally softer and lightweight than cashmere as it is a finer fibre. The finest Inca cloth had a thread count of more than 600 threads per inch.

Lower in Lanolin: The alpaca fibre is naturally hypoallergenic as it doesn’t contain as much lanolin as sheep’s wool, the fibres are also reported to be smoother and ideal for sensitive skin.

Other benefits include: 

Naturally antimicrobial and odour-resistant

Durable and stain-resistant

Flame resistant

Biodegradable

Does not pill

Available in 22 natural colours, can be used dye-free.

So what of the alpacas cousins – llamas, vicunas and guanacos? Fleeces from all three can, and have been used for textiles. However llama fibre is coarser than alpaca fibre, with the exception of baby llama fibres, and best suited to hardwearing rugs, carpets and wall decorations. Because of their size and more confident manner llamas make excellent guards for flocks of sheep, goats and alpacas.

Vicunas and guanacos, meanwhile are shy herd animals and are protected by law. Guanacos are restricted to sheering once a year. While the fibres from the Vicuna, the national animal of Peru, named as the “thread of the gods” by the Incas due to its superior fineness and softness, can be harder to source. 

After the Spanish invasion Vicuna numbers dropped below 5,000 resulting in a ban on hunting or selling of their wool up until the 1960s. While the number of animals has increased in recent decades they are still considered as endangered and the herding and sheering of vicunas is strictly controlled by the government.

Of course the four camelid breeds can, and do, interbreed, and it is thought that the alpaca is a cross between a llama and vicuna established over 6,000 years ago. Alpacas are one species however there are two fleece types; huacaya and suri. The huacya has a fluffy, teddy-like appearance while the Suri fleece is described as dreadlocks. Both are suitable for wool production with the huacaya being the most common. Alpacas and their fellow cousins were almost wiped out after the Spanish conquest of the Incas. Seen as a grazing land competitor by the Spaniards for their sheep, the animals were slaughtered for their meat with a small number retreating into the mountains.

So what does alpaca farming look like today? With a growing interest in natural, biodegradable fibres and highlighted concerns on environmental impact the alpaca scores highly. Along with Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Northern Chile, alpaca farming has grown worldwide and can be found as far afield as Norway, New Zealand, Poland and many others. 

With alpaca farming growing worldwide key questions centre on animal welfare; is alpaca shearing cruel and is it necessary? According to the British Alpaca Society alpacas must be sheared annually. If not sheared the fleece will continue to grow and cause health problems and hinder wellbeing. As with all animal husbandry proper care and respect is required.

Looking back at the Incas, it seems that they truly understood the value of alpacas, not only for their prized wool but as low environmental impact animals that are relatively easy to look after. Alpacas can live up to 20 years, double the age of domestic sheep and their padded feet cause minimal ground damage. Additionally, alpacas graze on marginal lands and eat low-quality forages, which reduces land degradation, they also emit lower amounts of methane compared to other farm livestock such as cows and sheep. This combined with the many benefits in the use of their wool is why there is a growing vested interest in alpacas to provide quality, sustainable fibres for today.

Next week: Textiles of Peru Part 2: The Process From Fleece to Yarn

Sources:

Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco

Tour in peru.com

Nugget Nielsen

Spinoff Magazine

Inca alpaca.co.uk

Alpaca World Magazine

salkantaytrekmachu.com

British Alpaca Society

Images: Top image by Daniel Coen, third image down by Gabriel Ventura – pexels.com. All other images by Jenny Holloway.




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