Exquisite Natural Fiber Product and Services

Calicampo takes great pride in providing excellent service

and exceptional products using socially and envionmentally-
sustainable practices. We promise to continue seeking ways
to improve and expand our offering to give our customers
more beautiful hand-painted fibers, and a competitive
market advantage.
WE ARE:
THE CALICAMPO STORY
Calicampo was established with the sole purpose of creating hand-painted natural fibers,
with the safest possible dyes and sustainable processes, that exceed the beauty and
quality of any other fiber on the market. In doing so, the business must provide opportunities
for our employees and the comunity; generate profit for Calicampo and our customers;
and do no harm to the environment and the life it supports.
Calicampos founders, Lonnie Helgeson, Diana Yriberry, and Miguel Paz, bring together
three distinct skills and decades of experience in the fiber industry. Lonnie, a master knitter
from Minneapolis, began experimenting with color design and dyeing her own yarns when
she became dissatisfied with the quality of available hand-dyed yarns. An envionmentalist
and mother of four, she was determined to create beautiful yarns from dyes that were not
harmful to people or the ecosystem. In the process she developed a unique hand-painting
system that eliminated the problem of pooling on the knitted product. Having caught the
attention of yarn specialists, Lonnie was introduced to Miguel Paz, owner of Misti
International Inc. , one of the premier distributors of Alpaca Yarns in North America, who
was looking for a new and exceptional product offering for his yarn business in Peru. Soon
realizing that this process could better serve the global market by being offered as a service
to other fiber companies, Miguel and Lonnie teamed up with Diana Yriberry, a designer
and boutique owner in Arequipa, and established Calicampo S.A.C.
In addition to hand-painting services, Calicampo offers custom colorway development
and testing, and knitting services for pattern testing, sample garments, and swatches - all
created with utmost precision and quality control.
Whether we are replicating our customers colors or designing proprietary colorways for a
particular line, nothing gives us more pleasure than seeing the products we create
became wearable works of art. This is our passion... and our mission.
we turn
natural fibers
into colorful
stories that
inspire
creativity
WE CARE:
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
As a manufactured and employer, Calicampo understands that the decisions we make
have a direct impact on the eco-system and are committed to sustainable business
practices. We also make every effort to understand the needs and concerns of our
customers and work to provide products and services that support their own eco-
strategies. We continually strive to make more efficient use of material and energy
resources, and seek ways to improve our processes and products to reduce enviromental
impact while maintaining the highest level of quality.
Our dyes are made with the finest combinations of organic and synthetic colorants, and
naturally occurring pigments found in plants, animals and minerals, which meet or
exceed the Global Organic Textile Standards. We use production methods that have the
lowest envionmental impact possible such as bicycle-powered skeining devices instead
of electric or steam powered; solar drying methods, rather than gas or electric; we
recycle and reuse all containers used in production; and make sure that no toxic
chemicals are released into the waste water or atmosphere.
Working closely with sustainablility experts, textile standars organizations, and locla
authorities, our ultimate goal is to achieve organic certification and zero-waste
production.
Our business would not be possible without the talent and dedication of our employees,
therefore we insist on fair trade practices, offering living wages, training, social security,
vacation time, flexible hours, and safe and happy working conditions. The oppotunities
we provide extend beyond our employees and into the community. In addition to
supporting the local economy through the taxes we pay, several samll locally-owned
businesses have opened to provide the materials and support we need to operate
color is most
beautiful
when it is
created
under fair
and safe
conditions
WE CREATE: OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Calicampo offers a hast of services that support and
enhance the natural fiber industry. Each service can be
customized to meet the specific needs of our customer.
COLOR DESIGN
Inspired by personal observations, international trends,
and color forecasts, Calicampos talented colors
designers create colorways that catch the attention of
knitters, fashion designers and retailers all over the world.
The fusion of multiple colors and our hand-painted
blending techique is truly unique and exciting. With such
a broad range of achievable colors, the color
combinations are practically endless.
Calicampos colorways are available to our customers to
use for their own product line, or our designers can
develop custom colorways to client specification - both
under exclusive agreements that protect the colorway-
fiber combination from being used by competitive
companies.
DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING
Dye Testing:
Most natural dyes on the market cannot achieve the level of
consistency, quality and colorfastness that is required for
industrial aplication. Thats why Calicampo has partnered with
the University of Minnesota in an ongoing program to develop a
special line of stable and sustainable dyes that meet our rigid
criteria. We currently have a wide range of proven formulas
available and continue to expand our palette with each
successful test.
Pattern Development:
When dyeing with multiple colors, a pattern for application must
be developed so to assure smooth transitions from color to color
and avoid pooling. Having achieved these qualities through
training and application of our special hand-painting
technique, Calicampos experienced dye masters can readily
identify and create a dye pattern that will eliminate undesired
effects and allow the colorway to be represented in top form.
HAND PAINTED TECHNIQUES
HAND PAINT MULTICOLOR:
This dyeing technique or hand paint technique is made by an
application of different dyeing colors, all on a skein, the colors are
applied carefully so we can obtain a really subtle change of
colors, giving us as result a new color, we can reach up to fifty
colors in one skein, that give us an color harmony that impress as
a painting would do.
HAND PAINT TONE ON TONE:
This technique is the combination of colors with a color
degradation effect applied by hand, using a color as base, due
this application seems "very artistic
HAND DYE MULTICOLOR:
This dyeing technique is obtained by adding different color dyes
one after other , is very similar to the hand paint technique,
except is made in a pan full of water so the color mix and we get
dyed skeins with very artistic applications.
HAND PAINT OVER DYE:
This dye process is made on a yarn that has a light and dark color
base, so we can get a contrast by the various colors, giving as a
result a very individual chiaroscuro effect, all made by hand.
HAND PAINT STRIPE SOCK:
This technique is developed especially for socks, because we use
special measures for the application of different dyes that once
they are knitted we get stripes of various colors.
CUSTOM HAND-DYEING
The process begins with natural fibers that have been
blended and spun by the mills, and then we bring them alive
with color. Our hand-paint and production techniques are
unique to the industry - no other dye house can apply as
many colors to a single hank of yarn, and subtly blend them
for a natural transition from one color to the next. As a result,
the yarns have a dyed-to-the -stitch look, colors that will not
pool when knitted, and patterns that remain consistent from
kilo to kilo. Our dye solutions are specially blended to be
gentle and retain the natural characteristics of each fiber.
We hold our quality to the highest standards and have a
tight quality control system in place to ensure that no
product leaves our facility without meeting our, and our
customers expectations.
First, each kilo of fiber received from the mill is inspected for
hand, spin and uniformity: then, prior to painting, each
bottle of dye is checked by our highly trained dye masters
for color consistency. Astists then apply the dyes with
utmost precision, written specifically for each job, and the
hand-paint team inspects each kilo before the dye is set.
After processing, each kilo must pass a double inspection
before the dye artist signs the package and the product is
shipped to the customer.
ORGANIC DYES AND NATURAL PLANT DYES
Combining the best of nature and the best of science at
Calicampo we create natural fiber dyed products that are
unsurpassed in the marketplace. Our dyes are made with the
finest combinations of organic synthetic colorants and natural
occurring pigments found in local plants, insects, and minerals.
Calicampo dye artists use a combination of the safest, most
beautiful organic natural and synthetic dyes possible to fit the
specific fiber choice. The chemicals we use in our processes
contain no heavy metals or toxins and are treated to be
enviromentally safe. with our natural occurring dyes we use
only those mordants (dye fixers) allowed by the Global Organic
Textile Standards.
As we are located in a desert climate we are very careful
about how much water we use and try to minimize our impact
on the environment, recycle everything possible, use very little
electricity and take full advantage of the abundant supply of
solar power. Most of our machinery is bicycle powered.
We are committed to working becoming a model green
organization for our community and meeting or exceeding
organic certification standards.
KNITTING SERVICES
Calicampo employs talented hand-knitters, trained in
local and European methods, to create product
samples for testing and marketing purposes:
Swatches:
With each colorway we provide swatches - hand-knit
in 3-5 diferents techniques - to show the customer how
the color and pattern appears when knitted- These
swatches can also be produced in volume for use as
col or communi cati on and marketi ng tool s for
prospective buyers and at trade shows.
Sample Garments:
Whether we are dyeing for a particular garment, or a
line of natural fiber yarns, we can hand-knit the initial
prototypes. This is the best way to truly understand how
the fiber and colorway will perform as a finished
product, and a smart way to showcase a product line.
Custom Products:
Calicampo can also handle special request knitted
products such as large panels for pattern testing, or
limited quantities of specialty items such as mittens os
socks to be used as gifts or propotions. We are happy
to discuss the possibilities!.
OUR COLLECTIONS OF KNITWEAR:
Giving priority to quality we design knitted pieces by hand
and machine, our simplicity brings out their inherent
appear due we select the best and purest fibers to work.
Our traditional way to manufacture, on a small scale and
with local experts, makes each piece really unique
We offer our own collection of garments knitted by hand
and machine since 2010, offering it to different parts of the
world, specially USA and Europe, keeping in mind the
fashion trend and the quality of its finishes.
FILCOLANA
OUR CLIENTS:
CALICAMPO aims to deliver high quality products without
losing the natural aspects of the fibers, which are
appreciated and sought by our clients. Calicampo not
only offers dye services but knitting services by hand and
by machine, production of collections, colorway
development. The companies that we work with are
located in different countries, where quality is the main
thing.
Our clients are eugenia kim , knitbrary, tudo boom?, fanny
bellete, kero design, misti alpaca, filcolana, cherry tree hills
FILCOLANA
OUR SUPPLIERS:
Baby alpaca
Baby alpaca is considered as an "soft yarn", is the most predominant alpaca type
Baby alpaca is a high end luxury fiber, prized for its combination of luster, fineness, slick handle, cool feeling,
drape, elegance and strength
no other animal fiber possesses all these features and it makes Baby Alpaca highly sought after throughout the
world.
Pima Cotton
Thus, Peruvian pima cotton can be blended with other fibers, either natural or synthetic, and successfully dyed,
to achieve products of excellent finish which are simultaneously compatible with the conservation of our natural
environment.
This fiber is provided by Michell CIA. and Incatops TPX, these two are the most well-known companies in Peru and
in other countries. Because of their high quality fibers, they offer us different types like 100% baby alpaca or mix of
natural yarns like wool, bamboo, silk, etc. these give various textures and finishes to the yarn.
Within the yarn's types of animal fibers
CHUNKY YARN, in stock 100% Baby alpaca and 50% Baby alpaca, 50% Wool nm 2/2
WORSTED YARN, in stock 100% Baby alpaca and 50% Baby alpaca, 50% Wool nm 2/2
LACE YARN, in stock 100% Baby alpaca nm 2/16
SOCK YARN in stock 50% Alpaca, 30% Wool, 10% Seda 10% Nylon nm 4/12
FlAMEY BAMBO YARN in stock 50%Baby Alpaca 30% Wool, 20% Bambo nm 1/1.6
SUPER CHUNKY YARN in stock 50% Alpaca 50% Wool nm 3/1.5
In vegetal fibers we have:
COTTTON SILK YARN in stock 87% pima cotton 17%silk nm 4/12
CALICAMPO S.A.C.
Address:Calle Purus 412 PT Zamacola Cerro Colorado Arequipa - Peru
E-mail: sales@calicampo.com
Telephone: 051-054-444890