What drove you to create your brand? Where did the idea for it come from?
Alpaca Apparel wasn’t born from a business plan, it grew naturally out of my life with my herd in the New Forest. I spend every day with these animals, watching the seasons shift around them, learning their personalities, and understanding the fibre they produce. When you live that closely with alpacas, you develop a deep respect for the material they grow. I began grading fibre myself, learning what makes a fleece exceptional, and I realised how overlooked British alpaca fibre truly is. I didn’t want it disappearing into anonymous supply chains or being blended into something unrecognisable. I wanted to honour it properly. The brand became a way to turn the softness and integrity of my herd into something wearable, traceable, and meaningful.
What is the thought process behind your designs?
Are any designs particularly personal to you? My design process always begins with the fibre. Alpaca has its own natural drape, softness, and warmth, and I design around what the fibre wants to do rather than forcing it into shapes that don’t suit it. I’m drawn to pieces that feel calm, effortless, and lived-in, clothing that supports your wellness and home life rather than performing for it. The most personal designs are the ones made from fleeces of alpacas I’ve raised since birth. When you’ve known an animal its whole life and then hold the yarn spun from its fleece, the final garment carries a story only you can tell. Those pieces feel like a quiet collaboration between me, the land, and the animal.
How does your environment influence your work?
The New Forest is woven into everything I create. The colours, the textures, the pace ,they all shape the brand. Living here teaches you to slow down, to notice small details, to appreciate natural beauty without embellishment. That’s exactly how I approach my knitwear. The landscape also influences the fibre itself. The calmness of the environment, the grazing, the climate, they all contribute to the quality of the fleece. When I design, I’m thinking about pieces that feel at home in this world: soft, grounding, and quietly luxurious.
What are your brand’s core values and how do they show through your creative process and production?
Traceability, integrity, and respect for the animals sit at the heart of everything I do. Every piece begins with my own herd, so I can tell you exactly which alpaca produced the fibre. That level of provenance is rare, even in luxury fashion. I work in small batches with Two Rivers Mill and the Knit Design Centre who share my values. Nothing is rushed. Nothing is mass-produced. The creative process is slow and intentional, from grading each fleece by hand to blending the natural fleece in to palettes that reflect the land. Alpaca Apparel exists to show that luxury can be ethical, transparent, and deeply connected to its origins.
How would you describe your customer base?
My customer is a woman who values quality over quantity. She’s thoughtful about what she brings into her life. She cares about natural fibres, craftsmanship, and the story behind what she wears. She’s not interested in logos or fast trends, she wants pieces that feel like an extension of her values. She often reaches a point where comfort, softness, and intention matter more than noise. She appreciates the calmness of the brand, the honesty of the process, and the connection to the land and animals. She buys fewer things, but she buys better and she wants those things to mean something.
What is your favourite thing about running your brand? Any unexpected perks?
My favourite part is the closeness to the process. I love walking into the field in the morning, seeing the alpacas grazing, and knowing their fibre will eventually become something someone treasures. There’s something grounding about that. An unexpected perk has been how emotional the process can be. When someone tells me a piece makes them feel calm or that it’s the softest thing they’ve ever worn, it feels deeply personal, because it is. These garments start with animals I care for every day.
Where are you hoping the brand will head in the future?
My long-term vision is to elevate British alpaca fibre to where it deserves to be, recognised, respected, and valued as a luxury material. I want Alpaca Apparel to remain small-batch and intentional, but with a growing community of women who understand the beauty of provenance-led clothing. In five years, I see a fuller collection, deeper collaborations with British mills, and even more transparency. I want to continue proving that fashion can be slow, ethical, and luxurious and that some of the most exceptional fibres in the world are being grown quietly, right here in the UK.