The innovative British knitwear label, Plum of London sent several members of its team to Verbier earlier this month to carry out ‘field research’ (or that’s what we called it!), to see how our luxury alpaca knitwear performed when skiing. Essentially, the excursion was designed to allow us to measure the thermostatic properties that alpaca offers whilst enduring a high-performance sport such as skiing which would allow us to create the best range of ski and snowboard apparel made using pure alpaca. This comprised of analysing alpaca knitwear’s breathability, insulation, moisture wicking and water repellent properties to help us devise alpaca clothing, garments and accessories which would perform at the highest possible level for skiers, snowboarders and walkers alike. We wouldn’t want to restrict our men’s and women’s alpaca clothing range to just those groups of people, in fact our forthcoming alpaca ranges will suit anyone wishing to wear the highest performing apparel available on the market. Think Icebreaker in alpaca, but better.
We here at Plum HQ have always enthused about the seemingly infinite benefits and attributes that innovative alpaca clothing and accessories can offer to performance skiwear and we’re delighted to say that our latest study into the suitability of alpaca clothing would perform exceptionally well for skiers at all levels. If you’re out on the slopes in Klosters in the Alps, Aspen in the Rockies, Mount Buller in Australia and Niseko in Japan, we’re sure that everyone can benefit from the wondrous qualities that our British made alpaca clothing and accessories can offer. Here’s a member of our team testing our luxury alpaca clothing whilst paragliding…

Plum of London’s team of sports performance specialists have known for a long time now that pure alpaca clothing of both the knitted and woven varieties is up to 30% better insulating that merino, warmer than goose down (when required), breathable, possesses unrivalled odour, stain and water resistant qualities and is extremely strong and incredibly durable- it’s second in strength only to silk! You may say that if alpaca clothing possesses this many qualities and if it’s better performing than merino and warmer than goose down and stronger than cashmere, then why has this opportunity not been realised before. Well, the short answer is that it has, but predominantly only by those countries where alpacas originate, that being Bolivia, Peru and Chile in South America. We are however finding that one or two companies are cropping up internationally who have recognised the opportunity and have started to offer some exceptional alpaca clothing and accessories which we’ll feature in a further post, Plum of London included. It is now a time to educate and inform others of the attributes and qualities that alpaca clothing and accessories can offer when pursuing high-performance sports and this, as we have often stated, is one of our missions. Below is a picture of Verbier in March. That day reached tempertures of above 24 degrees proving that high performance apparel is required in ski resorts which possesses breathable, moisture wicking and thermal properties among many others- our range of British made luxury alpaca knitwear offers just that.

Thanks to the incredible qualities alpaca fibre boasts, our current range of luxury Royal alpaca snoods, cowls and cable knit beanie hats not to mention our range of baby alpaca scarves and shawls perform amazingly well in areas with an altitude of over 2000m and in temperatures of -22 degrees in the winter to +27 degrees in the summer. Some of our customers have praised our alpaca products and said that they didn’t even know how good our alpaca jumpers, hats, cowls and scarves perform in the cold. These adult alpaca accessories are accompanied by our exquisite range of children’s Royal alpaca knitwear which include Royal alpaca cardigans, Royal alpaca v-necks and Royal alpaca crew neck jumpers which will keep your child warm when it’s cool and cool when it’s hot. Our forthcoming women’s and men’s luxury alpaca clothing which will include Royal alpaca jumpers, alpaca sweaters and other alpaca knitwear will therefore offer the same fantastic benefits!
Both our men’s and women’s ranges of alpaca clothing are currently in production and are due for launch in AW15 so you’ll no doubt see Plum of London’s alpaca garments on a slope in the 2015/16 ski season and if you’re lucky enough to visit Verbier or Whistler this summer, you’ll find some of our alpaca products in a few exclusive shops…!