The alpaca is a cousin of the llama. Like the llama it comes from the Andes of South America, where the climate is freezing and harsh.
The fibres on the fleece of an alpaca are hollow, this traps warm air and creates a thermal effect. This makes alpaca about five times warmer than sheep wool.
As well as this, alpaca is soft, luxuriously silky and none-itchy. Like cashmere, mohair and angora it is classed as a luxury fibre. However demand for alpaca is so high that it is rarer than any of these.
This combination of luxury and warmth makes alpaca ones of the most highly desirable fibres there is.
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