Our Materials

Baby Alpaca

A fibre grade: the fine first shearing of a young alpaca, typically 18 to 22 microns, from animals raised in the Peruvian highlands. Light for its warmth, soft against the skin, and it keeps its shape through years of wear.

Some colourways are the alpaca's own natural tone: Camel, Ivory, Light Grey, Brown. The others are naturally dyed. A few pieces are blends with silk, which adds sheen and drape. Every product page gives the exact composition.

Most of our baby alpaca is made in a certified production centre in the southern Peruvian highlands (how it's certified). Our headbands are hand-knitted by a small family cooperative.

What we make: Scarves, shawls, throws, beanies, headbands, fingerless gloves, knitwear and coats.

Frazada — Handwoven Andean Sheep Wool

A frazada is a heavy handwoven wool blanket from the high Andes. In the communities that make them, a frazada goes on the bed, on the floor and around the shoulders. It is an everyday object, built for the cold at altitude.

Ours are woven by Aymara and Quechua women in the Cusco and Puno regions, from the wool of sheep they raise themselves. They shear it, wash it and dye it with natural pigments from plants and minerals, then weave it on a backstrap loom: warp threads stretched between two wooden bars, one tied to a post and one held taut by a strap around the weaver's back. The loom only allows a certain width, so many frazadas are woven in two lengths and joined down the middle. A single frazada takes days, sometimes weeks. The pattern is always the weaver's own.

We travel to the weavers and choose each frazada from them in person. The rugs and throws are vintage, sold as they are. Others go to workshops in Lima, where they're cut and made into handbags, cushion covers and tassels. When a frazada has been used up, that pattern is gone.

What we make: Frazada rugs and throws, frazada handbags, cushion covers, tassels, and upholstered pieces (made in Australia).

Junco Reed

A coastal Peruvian reed — Juncus genus — harvested from the wetlands of Peru. Not a straw, not raffia. Stronger, denser, and more dye-receptive than raffia; it takes natural pigment evenly and holds colour over time.

Each bag is woven entirely by hand, one row at a time, by a cooperative of families, mainly women, in the Lima province — north and south of the city, and some in Lima itself. The process takes several weeks per piece. No two are identical.

What we make: Handbags, totes, clutches, and crossbodies.

Toquilla

The fine palm fibre used in traditional Panama hats. In the north of Peru it's woven by hand with the same inherited technique. Lighter and more pliable than junco, with a tighter weave and a silkier hand. The tradition of toquilla weaving in Peru has been declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation.

Our toquilla is woven by a small group of women in the north of Peru.

What we make: The Audrey.

Leather

Soft tumbled leather, professionally dyed and sealed. Soft enough to carry from the first day; the kind that softens further with use and develops a natural patina over time. Made by a family workshop in Lima, stitched on their own machines and finished by hand.

What we make: The Olivia Crossbody.

Every material is sourced directly from the artisans and producers who work with it. Designed in Australia, made in Peru.