Fibre of the Gods
The fleece of the smaller vicuna wild ancestor of the domesticated alpaca was referred to as the 'Fibre of the Gods' by the Incas, and only royalty were permitted to wear it. Alpaca fleece is a lustrous and silky natural light- weight fibre, similar to sheep’s wool, but warmer and not prickly, and bears no lanolin, which makes it hypoallergenic and very suitable for allergy sufferers to wear next to the skin. It has a fibre structure that protects it from abrasion and gives it high durability, tensile strength and resistance to pilling and shrinking. One of the many fabulous characteristics of alpaca fleece is its array of natural colours, ranging from white through shades of cream, fawn, apricot and brown to a wonderful variety of greys and black - the only commercial natural fibre that is truly black.
