Each weaver has its history that is embodied in each piece of Karukinka apparel.
We are to date the only vertically integrated global outdoor apparel company in the industry.
We set up the Karukinka Workshop in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, where all of our pieces are handmade by our local partners and the strongest arm of our brand.
The process consists of several logistic steps that make it possible to manufacture here.
It is a five-part procedure that includes shearing, yarn production, knitting, chalking and cutting, and assembling.
We start our process in collaboration with local breeders who supply us with the raw material for our spinning mill. It’s there that we transform the hairs and fibers of merino, alpaca, llama, and guanaco into the vital threads of our products.
The wool fibers are then sent to our factory to be woven into the knitwear that we pair with high-performance Polartec fabric. Seventeen local workers between the ages of 20 and 70 spin, weave, sew, and create Karukinka apparel in the city of Porvenir, which has a population of about 4,000 people and is often overlooked by tourists to the region. Ninety percent of our employees in our workshop are women.
The “End of the World,” as Patagonia was nicknamed long ago, is a hard region to make a living in. Chile has one of the lowest rates of female employment in South America, but the women of Tierra del Fuego, where Karukinka’s factory is located, are the lifeblood of this company.