Peruvian knitting company Inkasign is bringing an ancestral tradition and craft to modern retail around the world.
Inkasign founder and general manager Ricardo Holder is an industrial engineer specialized in textiles who has worked in the textile industry his entire life. He was inspired by the knitters of the Peruvian highlands to enter the garment business, one of the most important industries in Peru and in the world. For more than 20 years, Holder has been working with Peruvian women, whose hands expertly knit designs made from alpaca, baby alpaca, wool, cotton and blends with other natural fibers from the best Peruvian spinners.
Launched in 2006, Inkasign offers fully fashioned and cut and sewn knitted garments for women, men and children, such as sweaters, throws, shawls and accessories, as well as knitted dolls, toys, and home accessories. The company uses Peruvian cotton such as Pima, Tanguis and organic cotton, as well as alpaca yarn, blending them with 100 percent pure fiber.
As apparel companies continue to shift toward a competitive market by acquiring high technology machinery to blend alpaca and cotton yarn, Inkasign has responded to the trend by using innovative knitting machines. Holder works alongside Saleh Kahatt, Inkasign’s engineer in yarns, to create different blends for designers that offer high technology in a range of styles, shapes and colors. To aid decision making in the beginning stages of product development, Holder and Kahatt create swatches that present buyers with different yarn blends, colors and style options.
Along with innovation and technology, Inkasign also has a talented group of workers, who help to deliver high-quality finished goods to its clients. Among Inkasign’s loyal customers are Johnny Was, Free People and Anthropologie, which have been developing their collections with Inkasign with great satisfaction for a long time. The company’s specialty is sweaters, but one of the categories that makes Inkasign stand out in its industry is knitted dolls and toys. Since these are carefully and delicately knitted and crafted by hand, parents can confidently give them to their children.
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Times have been somewhat difficult this year, and Inkasign has been working hard to protect its personnel and help them help others by producing masks for hospitals in Peru. Through this initiative, more than 50 families who are part of the staff still have income. Inkasign also carefully takes care of employees while they are working to make masks by providing them with special PPE.
Inkasign exports its knitted products to the European and U.S. markets, and has been growing year by year since the company was created.
One of the most important things that has helped the company grow its exports is trade policy. Due to the free trade agreement between the United States and Peru, imports from the South American country are exempt from duties. Peru also has a free trade agreement with all European Union countries, as well as with Asian countries, Australia and Latin American countries. Free trade agreements have made it easy for importers to trade, reducing costs and creating competitive prices.
Our competitive prices and lack of tariffs makes working with Inkasign feasible at a time when brands continue to shift production out of Asia.
To further expand its global business, Inkasign participates in the most important fashion trade shows around the globe. The company will be exhibiting at the virtual Sourcing at Magic Online show from Sept. 15-Dec. 15, 2020.
The vision of Inkasign is to be a leading enterprise in the knitting industry, oriented to reach high levels of quality, innovation, creativity and originality. Inkasign is focused on elegance, vanguard and fashion, reaching to be competitive and sustainable over time, to the benefit of customers, partners, workers and the community.
Click here to learn more about Inkasign. And visit the company’s digital booth at Sourcing at Magic.