VICUÑA | 100% VICUNA WOOL

Our Vicuña is one of the most rare, exclusive high-quality luxurious yarns in the world. It comes from the vicuña, a small camelid animal native to the Andes Mountains in Peru. Vicuñas have an ultra-fine wool cherished for its softness, lightness and natural colour. The yarn, considered the “yarn of yarns” and coveted around the world, is exceptionally warm and has wonderful wearing qualities.

According to an ancient Inca legend, the vicuña is the re-incarnation of a beautiful maiden, who when courted by and old, ugly king, refused to accept him unless he could provide her with a coat of pure gold. The Incas considered the vicuña sacred and the death penalty was imposed on anyone who killed it. Garments made with its wool were reserved exclusively for royalty.

During and after the Spanish conquest till the mid 60`s, hunting of vicuñas was unrestricted, which reduced its numbers to a merely 6,000. Today, the vicuña is Peru´s national animal and is no longer in danger of extinction. The animals live in the wild and run free. National conservation efforts limit the amount of wool that can be harvested at a time. Because of this and the fact that vicuña goats grow very slowly, harvesting of the wool by gently shearing the wild animals takes place every three years. In order to do this, the animals have to be gently caught and released back into the wild shortly after. A single vicuña produces about 1.1 pounds (0.5 kg) of wool per year, which makes it very rare and valuable.

As with all our products, of course, we pay special attention to the high level of sustainability in every step of the process from the harvesting to the finished yarn making sure that the animals are well treated, the working environment is safe and workers receive fair pay.

We are proud to be the only supplier of this extraordinary yarn in Europe which is sold in its natural cinnamon colour. Vicuña is an exceptionally warm, extremely soft, light and hypoallergenic yarn that can be worn directly on the skin.

Furthermore, our vicuña comes with a certificate of authenticity to confirm that the yarn has been made in accordance to the requirements of the Washington Convention on Species Protection “CITES” and has been approved and checked by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation of the federal German government.

We recommend washing your knitwear by hand in lukewarm water with a mild wool detergent. Dry flat, preferably on a terry towel, to keep its shape. Please do not dry it on a heat source or in the sun!  Read more about wool care in our blogpost HERE