Animana is a social impact business that cares about the ecological, social and sustainable culture of the Andes. Founded by Adriana Marina, Animana is responding to fast fashion through its ‘cradle to cradle’ take on a sustainable wardrobe. Moving away from the idea of thinking about a piece of clothing only from its inception, Animana is thinking about how through the use of raw textiles, clothes can have many different life times. 

Working with the raw materials from animals in Patagonia and the Andes, fine wool from llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos, Patagonian merino wool is created in its native organic cotton variety. Animana wishes to revive the indigineous, cultural secrets of the Andes, before its Hispanic legacy. 

As Animana employs 7500 artisans from different communities of the Andes mountains, at the heart of Animana are the makers. Through classifying and separating fibres by colour, length and thickness, this process has strong indigenous influence and Patagonia and the Andean weavers are some of the best in the world. Weaving is a vehicle for artistic manifestations as well as a gift for the gods and sacred mountains. 

This weaving becomes a multi-faceted and layered life source, with the wool used to transport food, wrap up infants to act as shelter from the various different climates in one region. It can also tell the stories of which ethnicity one belongs to as well as being used for decorative sashes and chupas to carry. 

85% of Animana makers are women and therefore Animama aims to empower women from these local communities through reviving and keeping alive ancestral techniques. From the care of its animals, to the harvesting of fine wool to the colour separation and weaving process, this sustainable development embodies all life sources around the Andes. Animama is bettering the quality of life, especially for the women of the Andes through sustainable fashion and textile techniques over 5,000 years old.