Every now and again I’ll come across a project on Kickstarter that catches my eye. This week I came across a llama wool sweater, called The Libre Sweater from Cotopaxi (See on Kickstarter). Ever since I visited the Andes of Peru, I’ve had an affinity for the wool of camelids. I brought home a few llama and alpaca wool garments, and have not been able to find anything quite like them since. The Libre Sweater is made in Bolivia with fibers from llamas. If you’ve never worn a garment made of llama or alpaca wool, it will be difficult for me to convey the incredible warmth, breathability, and antimicrobial properties of the fibers. I’m clearly not the only one excited about this garment, The Libre Sweater is the most funded sweater project ever on Kickstarter. As of me writing this post, the project is at $247,264 in funding, with a goal of $20,000. I guess you could call that a rousing success.
What makes this Kickstarter project of major interest to me is that Cotopaxi has designed this sweater to look fashionable, while maintaining functionality and durability. With a tailored cut, mesh back, and double reinforced seams, I can see this sweater taking me to the tops of mountains and leaving me no reason to change for a celebratory dinner afterward. With it’s antimicrobial properties (anti-stank!), I can also see this being a go-to backpacking travel layer. Hit the trails by day, visit the city streets by night.
The Kickstarter promotional video for the Libre Sweater is pretty epic. The video features a Cotopaxi ambassador (looks like a pretty sweet gig!) modeling the Libre in some pretty dramatic alpine environments. You can check out the video below.
For those of you unfamiliar with Cotopaxi, the ‘What We Do’ section of their website sums it up well “We create innovative outdoor products and experiences that fund sustainable poverty alleviation, move people to do good, and inspire adventure. Cotopaxi funds solutions that address the most persistent needs of those living in extreme poverty. Giving is core to our model. As a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, Cotopaxi has made a commitment to creating positive social impact. We focus our efforts on global poverty alleviation & give targeted grants to advance health, education, and livelihoods initiatives around the world.” The three pillars of Cotopaxis grantmaking outreach focuses on heath, education, and livelihoods. As someone who has spent time with the beautiful Quechuan people of Peru who rely on alpacas and llamas for their livelihood, it is great to see a company having a positive impact in similar parts of the world.
Feel free to visit The Libre Sweater Kickstarter project if you’d like to be a backer. Estimated delivery is February of 2017.
I’ll leave you here with a few pictures of my closest camelid friends.
**Post sponsored by Cotopaxi**
these sweaters look awesome indeed.
🙂