Sustainable apparel brand Paka is marking its 10th anniversary with a pledge to source more than 90 percent of its fibers from natural or plant-derived materials by 2035, CEO and founder Kris Cody announced in a post on the company's website.
The B Corp-certified company plans to get there by cutting back on synthetics and leaning more on materials such as regenerative pima cotton and hemp, according to a press statement.
Paka's identity is tied to alpaca wool, raised in Peru's Andes Mountains by farmers known as alpaqueros for thousands of years. As the brand expanded into underwear, bras and accessories, it began sourcing other sustainable materials.
There is ground to cover: Cody said the company's fiber portfolio currently stands at a little over 70 percent natural and plant-based. Even its flagship product, The Hoodie, contains 35 percent recycled nylon. "Replacing certain materials without compromising performance won't be easy, but we believe we can get there and are going to keep pushing ourselves to figure out how," he said.
The company officially launched in 2016, though its idea traces to a 2015 backpacking trip in South America, where rainy conditions in the Andes led Cody to buy a sweater made by Gregoria Yucra Chamb of the Peruvian Quechuan tribe, according to a 2022 Bloomberg report. Cody built a relationship with the Chamb family and learned about alpaca fiber, and together they developed a prototype sweater. A 2017 Kickstarter campaign raised more than $347,000, far past its $20,000 goal.
Cody said new products will follow four principles: going to the fiber's source, choosing the right partners such as farmers and craftspeople, making products traceable and giving back to the communities behind them. In 2024, Paka launched a traceability program across its full product line, with QR codes on hangtags linking consumers to the precise coordinates where the alpaca fiber is sourced.
Originally reported by WWD