Plum of London - Alpaca Scarf

Royal Alpaca from Plum of London

Alpaca is an excellent fibre for use in suiting and knitwear because of its lightness, softness and strength — soft as cashmere and warmer than sheep's wool.

Plum of London uses the finest — in terms of quality and thickness (and rarity) — royal alpaca fibre in its range of knitwear. The alpaca is sourced from Peru — where else? — and the knitwear is manufactured in specialist British mills.

Hugo Douglass, who founded Plum in 2013, is a keen advocate of the properties of alpaca, which he explains in great detail here: Why alpaca?  With Plum he also wishes to support British manufacturing as much as he is able. Locality, he argues, gives Plum much more control over quality.

As Hugo says:

'The concept therefore to combine what is arguably the world’s finest natural yarn with one of the most prominent knitwear industries is a perfect marriage and one which gives our customers the assurance that our alpaca garments are some of the world’s very best.'

That's Plum's Burgundy and Cream Woven Scarf in a herringbone pattern at the top. I'm not prone to hyperbole, but I would suggest that wearing it is akin to having a thousand tiny warm-lipped cherubs smothering your neck with tender kisses at the same time.