The first question that may come to mind is why alpaca fiber is called “fleece” and not alpaca “wool”. The reason is the huge differences between what we traditionally call wool and alpaca fleece.

Why the alpaca breeders use a different name?
Alpaca owners are a different class of people in and of themselves. There is business involved but the love for the animal takes precedence. Owners pay enormous amounts of money for their breeding stock, and will do anything for the comfort and health of each of their alpacas. Each alpaca is known by name and each personal history is memorized; their individual “soap opera” as I like to call it. Breeders are enthusiastic about their business, sometimes forgetting that they are in public, often using words that are not commonly used in polite conversation, or are whispered if necessary (all this in reference to reproduction). If you were at an alpaca breeders meeting for the first time, you would not believe what your ears would be hearing. Therefore, it was in the nature of this relatively new species of livestock breeder to name the alpaca coat “fleece”, like in the myth The Golden Fleece. Their intention was to make clear that these beloved animals produce a very different fiber than that of sheep, goats, rabbits, etc.

Now about the fiber itself:
All animal fibers are made of proteins, but the microscopic structure is different in each animal species. In the alpaca fiber, the differences translate into unique qualities, which are so pronounced that with a little experience, it is possible to suspect a garment has alpaca fiber just by looking at it. The next step is touching, which is when there is no question about it. With experience, this observation can be made just by looking at a picture.

It is said that alpaca fiber is 10 times warmer than wool and very soft to the touch, so the fiber with lowest micron count (thinnest, finest fibers), called baby fleece, can be worn next to the skin because it does not itch. It shines with a silky character, is extremely strong and is naturally stain repellent. It lacks lanolin or has very little of it, and therefore smells nice on and off the animal (washing may be unnecessary before carding and spinning in the cottage industry) as opposed to the fiber of other animals.

The staple length of alpaca fiber is long; it can reach 10-12 inches in Suri alpaca, and it can be 2-7 inches in Huacayas. Other fine fibers, like cashmere, are not nearly as long. The annual production of the fleece is measured in pounds. Other species’ fiber production is measured in ounces.

About the color
Alpaca fiber comes in 22 natural colors, from white to black, with grays and browns in between. If you mix the natural colors, there is another array of shades to be found.

In the first quarter of the last century, Peruvian breeders worked to produce only white animals. That was what the mills wanted, since white fiber can be dyed to demand. This led to almost eliminating colored alpacas from their herds, but since the 1980s, they have realized that the market is shifting towards a demand for natural color fibers; now breeders are trying to fulfill that demand from the sophisticated garment market.

In America, we like all colors and thus we produce what we like, recognizing and appreciating mixed colors in alpacas, like pinto and appaloosa.

Of note, so far the American market is geared toward producing beautiful animals, but in the future, when the fiber production is fully developed, the clean coloration of the blanket will be a must no matter our taste.