Michell - Alpaca Producer
70 employees - lima, peru
Michell, works with family farms of various sizes and helps shear and turn alpaca wool into usable yarn. Not only is Michell RWS certified but they hold certifications in GOTS, Oeko-Tex, Fair Trade and a half dozen others. We were lucky enough to visit and be shown their production process. For our wool, it all starts at a farm in Arequipa, about a two hour plane ride south of Lima. The alpaca freely graze in the hillsides of Arequipa and are sheared once every 18 months. After shearing, the alpaca wool is scoured, carded and combed to remove any dirt and debris. Once ready, the final step is spinning the yarn. This is all done at the processing plant in Arequipa. The dye facility is also in Arequipa however, all of our yarn is undyed. Once done, the final yarn takes its journey to Lima for final inspection before being made into our garments.