Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Design Special – Finnish Art, Craft & Design
The knits are designed with simplicity and timelessness in mind.
Woollen treasures from Peru via Finland The youthful and innovative Finnish knitwear company Alpa turns South American alpaca fleece into timeless Nordic designs. The company came to be thanks to a daring idea, skillful family members and a passion for quality – and enough conviction to trade living comfortably for buying yarn. By Hanna Heiskanen | Photos: AlpaFinlandia Oy
The story of Alpa begins in Peru, where the founder of the company, Heikki Timlin, was on a backpacking trip in 2012. Timlin, who had only just left school, had always disliked the thickness and itchiness of traditional wool sweaters. When he came across a local sweater made of alpaca wool – thin and warm but not sweaty, comfortable and definitely not itchy – he knew that he had found something special. “There is very little alpaca wool available in Finland,” says Lauri Hilliaho, one of 38 | Issue 119 | December 2018
Alpa’s co-entrepreneurs. “Heikki immediately saw an opportunity in introducing Finns to alpaca sweaters. Our first designs literally took shape in a South American hammock.” Since then, the company has grown to a team of nine, all with a passion for producing a variety of alpaca wool products, from sweaters to accessories for both men and women. The products are designed by Heikki’s sister Ainomaria Haataja, who conveniently happened
to have graduated after studying fashion design at the prestigious University of Art and Design Helsinki. Though the material itself is South American, the feel of the products is decidedly Nordic: timeless, minimalist, earthy. “Sustainability and longevity are hugely important to us. We want people to be able to
Heikki Timlin founded the company in 2012, right after leaving school.