One of the four South American camelids, the Guanaco is the second largest, a protected species living in the wild, although some are now being farmed domestically for their sheared fleece. The usual habitat is anything from sea level in Tierra del Fuego, to 4000 m along the Andes of Chile, Peru and Argentina in windswept, inclement conditions.
The fleece consists of a double coat–the coarser guard hair and the coveted under fleece–a honey coloured down that keeps the warmth in and the driving wind and snow out.
Camelid hair is not technically wool, it is a hollow fibre with a series of diagonal walls in the centre of the structure that makes it long, strong and insulating. It is soft which makes it suitable for clothing and for blankets, rugs, wall hangings, curtaining.
Guanaco fibre is finer than the best cashmere, light, warm, lustrous and super soft. The natural colours of honey to caramel are intrinsically beautiful.