This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Katie Lorenz, founder and owner of Campo Alpaca.
This Madison-based fair trade clothing company was founded in 2018 after Lorenz traveled to Peru several years before that, when she first encountered garments made from alpaca fleece. She was motivated to launch the business by the lack of compensation that local artisans, mainly women, were getting for their work.
“We work in Peru with artisan groups, small businesses and families that I actually found while I was travelling,” she said. “They create the products end-to-end down in Peru, and then we sell Alpaca clothing to niche markets in the United States.”
Her inspiration came in local markets in Peru, where vendors sell handcrafted products with traditional designs in bright colors. After trying out an alpaca sweater for several weeks during her travels, Lorenz sought out a version in red and white to wear to Wisconsin Badgers games at Camp Randall.
“That idea kind of stuck with me. Fast forward a couple of years, I mentioned I’d been working down in South America, and I’d been feeling burned out in my job … This idea popped up once again, and I’m like, ‘Wait a second, we could make Wisconsin gear,’” she said. “I met some of these ladies that were knitting the stuff at the markets, and I was shocked at how cheap they were selling things for.”
This realization coincided with other “social good” retailers such as Toms Shoes rising in popularity, she said.
After some initial “boots on the ground” efforts to develop the supply chain and set up the company, Lorenz still takes several weeks each year to spend in Peru working with the local suppliers. Campo Alpaca now sells cardigans, sweatshirts, scarves, hats, gloves, yarn and much more through its e-commerce site.
These products are made by artisans across various communities in Peru, each with their own specialties and models for crafting the alpaca gear.
“Really I’m just looking for folks that care who they’re working with, ensure that everyone is getting paid fairly, everyone is like, in a safe situation, it’s a safe work environment,” she said. “But what I’ve found down there is all these folks are community leaders in their own right, so we have very aligned values in how we run both of our businesses.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
