Luxury and sustainable British alpaca

Knitwear brand Ally Bee was launched using British alpaca yarn to offer “a sustainable luxury alternative to mass production” for people who want to make informed wardrobe choices, writes Alpaca editor Liz Mason.

Alison Baker, Ally Bee ‘s founder, chose British alpaca fibre to launch the brand in 2014 because it met her commitment to designing for sustainability, high welfare and circularity – its ability as a natural fibre to be recycled without impacting the environment.

"I made a conscious decision at the outset to design and source with low impact and low waste in mind. This meant natural fibres – no nylon, glitter or sequins - traceable to origins and made without cruel animal treatment, and with high standards of land management and processing,” she explains.

At least 80% of the alpaca fibre in Ally Bee designs is British fibre “crafted using bespoke-spun British alpaca yarns” made by Two Rivers Mill in Dorset. The brand’s garments, and blanket throws, are carefully made in limited edition runs in a small factory in the Scottish Borders.

Ally Bee British alpaca designs include a crew neck alpaca wool jumper in grey marl, a limited edition jumper in caramel marl and a special edition ‘Fireside’ jumper with alpaca trim. British alpaca accessories complete the collection and include scarves, armwarmers, gloves and alpaca wool blanket throws.

Alpacas have a gentle grazing habit and cause less damage to the land than any other livestock. Their light impact on the land coupled with the high welfare standards adopted on UK farms, also influenced Alison’s decision to launch Ally Bee with British fibre. “British alpacas are reared with special care, and this promotes a healthy rich fleece. They are provided with shelter from the cold, and receive vaccinations and supplements in addition to a dental check and toe-nail clip at shearing time.

“This gentle grazer also produces a rich, voluminous fleece each year that must be shorn for the animals’ well being.”

Unlike imported cashmere and Merino, British alpaca yarns are washed, spun and knitted in their country of origin reducing the high carbon footprint attached to the transport of most knitwear yarns.

All Ally Bee yarns are made to commercial knitwear specifications; they are dye-free and contain no acrylics meeting the brand’s commitment to circularity. “At the end of its wearing life, an undyed alpaca garment or accessory can be returned to the earth to fully biodegrade and without leaching chemicals,” Alison explains. With eighteen possible shades from assorted browns, creams and black, alpaca fibre has a natural colour palette. “In addition, with careful blending at the early stages of the spinning process, alpaca fleece can be spun into a range of warm, autumnal colours, without the need for the chemical and high water consumption of the conventional colour-dyeing process.”

Since founding the brand Alison has added knitwear made from recycled cashmere and merino – sourcing consistent quality British fibre has been “tricky”, she explains making it difficult for her to grow a commercial ready to wear brand with British alpaca. “It would be marvellous if UK alpaca growers could form a successful, co-operative to pool and grade the annual clip for spinning into consistent, quality finely spun yarns produced on cone for knitwear manufacturing.

“The quality – at volume – is a big gamble, so it makes it impossible to know the quality of the garments you can make, if any, from any given batch and means there can be no forward planning which makes it commercially unviable for a ready to wear fashion brand.”

Although “it is risky to produce British alpaca at volume that does not mean it is completely out of the question” she adds. However, for now “it is best as a small, exclusive, one-off range.” British alpaca “is such a beautiful fibre, with such potential as a high quality and sustainable material to compete with questionable yarns of murky provenance.”

For more details visit the Ally Bee website: www.ally-bee.com