The Lankan lady leading the alpaca fashion pack
A leading corporate lawyer who won the prestigious “Business Woman of the Year” award at the Asian Women of Achievement in 2006 in London, Anila Wickramasinghe Preston is a highflyer. Aside from her legal career, Anila is the founder of the British Alpaca Fashion Company which creates clothing and textiles from Alpaca fibre. A birthday gift of two alpacas to her husband spawned an interest in alpaca fibre which lead to this award winning corporate prodigy juggling life as a lawyer and an alpaca farmer and fashion designer. Practicing sustainable farming and production methods, Anila is leading the way in creating products from alpaca fibre in the UK.
When was your brand founded?
The mark EKOALPAKA was developed by our company British Alpaca Fashion Company which was founded in 2010.
What made you transition from being a corporate lawyer to creating clothes from Alpaca fibre?
The light bulb moment came when I gave my husband two alpacas named Champagne and Truffles for his birthday thirteen years ago to graze in our fields. They were such enchanting animals that we soon ended up buying a small herd of alpacas. There was no going back after that. We now have around 90 animals. We also have an endangered species called Guanaco (also a camelid like the alpaca with very fine fleece) that originate from the Altiplano of Argentina. We rescued the guanaco from a zoo in the UK. After we got our first alpaca I wanted to make garments from their wonderful fleece. I learned about alpaca fibre and the entire process by visiting mills and talking to experts on textile engineering. I joined a local Guild and learned how to spin alpaca fleece into yarn and also to weave textiles from the yarn.
What are the origins of Alpaca fibre?
Alpacas originated in prehistory and were domesticated by the Incas of South America as fleece producing animals. As the fleece was extremely soft and lustrous it was known as the “fibre of the Gods” only to be used as luxurious garments for the nobility.
What are the unique attributes about Alpaca fibre?
Alpaca fibre is three times lighter and warmer than sheep wool including Merino. Also it is as soft as cashmere but more durable and is hypoallergenic as it does not contain lanolin like sheep wool. Alpaca fibre has thermal properties as it is a hollow fibre trapping air which helps to regulate the temperature making it breathable.
