The Alpaca Fleece Business in Europe

The Alpaca fleece business exploded in Europe in the 19th Century. Until the Industrial Revolution Alpaca cloth was a product solely found in South America.

In 1834 Sir Titus Salt found a bundle of Alpaca fleece lying around in a Liverpool warehouse. At the time Titus Salt owned 4 textile mills. He experimented with the fleece and found that it made a very exquisite cloth.

Sir Titus Salt quickly marketed his find as an expensive material fit only for the upper class. Importation of Alpaca fleece all the way from South America was expensive so few mills could afford this precious fiber. This gave Titus Salt an extreme economic advantage and many fashion houses paid dearly for his special cloth.

Alpaca was the height of fashion for nearly a century. The luxurious fabric made by English mills eventually achieved a status of common usage in English speaking countries.

Alpaca cloth soon became popular world wide. The majority of processing of this fine fleece was done in England. The people of South America provided the fiber while riches were made in the textile explosion during this Industrial Revolution.

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