Alpaca wool

There are many types of wool, sheep, goats or rabbits are animals that produce it. Used in clothing and accessories, wool is known to be warm and comfortable.

At BellePaga, we have decided to work with alpaca wool, a soft and warm fiber with many virtues. Called ''Wool of the Gods'', this wool from South America will convince you and accompany your winter evenings.

The advantages of wool

Wool is a mammal hair with a particular shape. It allows animals to protect themselves from the cold, the rain or the wind. It is therefore a natural material that has been chosen to make warm clothes or accessories. The animals most often mentioned when talking about wool are: sheep, goat, rabbit and of course alpaca.

In textiles, wool is used for its insulating properties, it traps the air close to your body to keep the heat or coolness close to your body. Depending on the type of wool, the garment can be more or less warm, more or less soft and more or less resistant. As a natural material, wool will please your skin, limiting the risk of allergies and lets your skin breathe which reduces perspiration. It is a resistant, natural and renewable material. It is much less polluting than synthetic fiber clothing that requires a lot of treatment and is often much less resistant than wool.

Depending on its origin, the animal or the breeding conditions, the quality of the wool and its price can be affected. For example, cashmere, a goat's wool from the Kashmir region, is known for its incredible softness but also for being more expensive than sheep's wool.

The wool of the Gods

Alpaca wool is a unique wool that has extraordinary properties. Very often called "Wool of the Gods", it is a wool that comes from the alpaca, a cousin of the llama. The alpaca lives in South America, in the Andes Mountains. On the Peruvian or Bolivian plateaus, the alpaca faces many temperature changes, from -25°C to 30°C in the same day. It has therefore developed a thermoregulating wool to help it brave these brutal temperature changes. The alpaca is a docile animal, which is the pride and joy of the breeders, who cherish them like their own children. It is a symbolic animal, almost sacred for the locals who provide "The Wool of the Gods".

Such an exceptional animal necessarily provides an exceptional wool. Indeed, it possesses unique virtues, recognized throughout the world, which make alpaca one of the most noble and prestigious fibers.

There are several types of alpaca wool, classified according to their thickness, these fibers are classified as follows:

- The alpaca which has a diameter of 23.1 and 26.5 microns

- The baby alpaca from 23 to 14 microns

- The royal baby alpaca which has a diameter of less than 12 microns.

The alpaca is sheared once a year, the first shearing gives baby alpaca wool (baby alpaca wool comes from an adult alpaca) and the following shearings give classic alpaca wool. Baby alpaca wool is softer and more comfortable, it is with this unique material that Bellepaga has chosen to work to provide you with high quality items.

The insulating power of alpaca wool is seven times greater than that of sheep's wool, which means that it will keep you warm enough but without suffocating you thanks to its thermoregulatory properties. Moreover, it is an extremely soft wool, almost as soft as cashmere, so an alpaca garment can be worn next to the skin without scratching. It is a fiber that is also light, which increases the comfort of clothing, but is still resistant, four times more than sheep's wool. For example, it is the only wool that naturally does not pilling. Your items will stay in the same condition for years. It is an elastic fiber that allows clothes to fit your body and to be particularly comfortable.

Moreover, this wool reduces perspiration and does not retain odors, even when it is wet, your products remain clean. Alpaca is the animal that has the greatest diversity of natural wool colors, which allows you to have clothes without chemical dyes that are harmful to your skin and the planet. In the same register, it is the only wool that does not contain lanolin, a substance that is found in traditional wools and that makes some people allergic. Alpaca can be worn without any risk by everyone. Finally, it is a fiber that does not catch fire as long as it is not in direct and prolonged contact with a flame. You will therefore be protected from cigarette burns, fires or strong heat.

You will have understood, alpaca wool has exceptional virtues that make this fiber unique and so famous throughout the world.

An ecological wool

The alpaca is an animal with a very low ecological footprint. Indeed, it generates very little greenhouse gases. Contrary to the goat, it does not pull out the roots of the grass it eats. This allows the vegetation to grow back to feed the alpacas again without depleting the soil. Moreover, the alpaca does not have hooves but pads, they do not crush the soil and do not destroy the plants on which they walk. Finally, the alpaca does not need to be killed to harvest its wool, it is shorn once a year with a process that is respectful of the animal and painless. The alpaca lives in high altitude plateaus where the land is not suitable for cultivation due to significant temperature changes.

As we told you earlier, alpaca can have many colors, which means that the wool is not dyed with chemicals that are harmful to you and that, when washed, seep into the water of your washing machines. Moreover, it is a fiber that requires less chemical treatment than synthetic fibers or other wools. As a natural fiber, alpaca wool is biodegradable. In Peru, the workshops and farms are close enough to each other to limit the number of kilometers traveled between shearing and garment manufacturing, further reducing the number of greenhouse gases involved in the production of alpaca wool clothing.

Finally, alpaca wool clothes are more robust, they will last over time and you will not have to change them regularly for the greater good of your wallet and the planet.

Our alpaca wool clothing

Socks, hats, sweaters, scarves, ponchos, quilts and more, at Bellepaga, we make and sell many items in baby alpaca wool for your comfort. From classic pieces to more creative ones, you can discover our collection directly on our website.

At Bellepaga, we are concerned about the environment, that's why we have chosen to highlight this particular wool, for its benefits for the body and for the planet. We are also concerned about the ethics around our products. We make sure that every worker who contributed to the production of our clothes is properly treated and paid to guarantee their well-being. We ensure a dialogue and transparency with our producers while respecting their ancestral know-how. We work with Peruvian producers who use their knowledge and ancient skills to provide you with the best garments.

The respect of the animal is also one of the important points of our values, we make sure that the breeders we work with respect their animals, that they can live freely in their natural habitat, without enclosures or barriers.

Finally, one of our main preoccupations is to offer you long-lasting and high-quality products. We are very demanding as for the quality of our products, we make sure that they are robust so that they resist all tests. We rigorously select our suppliers so that our clothes fit perfectly in our values, for you as for us.

You now know everything about wool and more particularly alpaca wool. This very special animal produces a unique fiber with many properties and virtues.

From the quality of the fiber to its benefits for the environment and the respect of producers, workers and know-how, alpaca wool is a model to follow for a more sustainable and ethical consumption of clothing. It is in this way that Bellepaga wanted to work for a more responsible fashion.