It is the rarest and finest fibre in the world, also called the “fibre of the gods”: this is the precious vicugna. A valuable fabric obtained from the very soft fleece of small camelids that live wild in the Andes and were once considered sacred by Inca.
It has been always considered an extremely valuable and royal fibre, once only the Inca emperor could wear it. Subjects were not allowed to wear this precious textile and only in special occasions the emperor gave clothes made of this fabric as precious gift and award.
The seasonal shearing was an extraordinary ceremony involving the whole community. Vicugna fibre was considered a gift of the gods and people were prohibited from killing this animals. In Peru the shearing of these small animals still follows the old Chakku rite. Hundreds of people gather and celebrate the animals that are sheared with ritual gestures and yells and then freed.
Vicugna was particularly loved by European sovereigns such as Philip II of Spain. It is a very rare fibre. In fact, an adult animal produces only 250 grams every two years.
Besides its typical golden chestnut colour, it is also extremely soft and can keep body temperature constant, even better than cashmere. It can be considered doubtless a unique and valuable gift of nature that should be care about and enhanced in the best way to highlight its extraordinary features. Such a valuable and rare raw material requires a skilled processing to honour its history. Far from mechanical processes and shaped and stroked by the hands of the tailor, vicugna wool creates unique clothing.
The old techniques of traditional tailoring enhance this fabric with personal features preserving its lightness that makes it so valuable and unmistakable.
