Raquel and Gregor "We would like to thank you for supporting our art, which in turn will benefit many Peruvian families." "My name is Raquel Iriarte de Brenner and I was born on May 20, 1958 in the province of Piura. I describe my work as an art form, and I've been dedicated to it along with my husband, Gregor. Our garments carry the name "Sillpa" which is an ancient Aymara word that implies "softness," "comfort," and "pleasure." "What draws me to weaving is the opportunity to work with natural fibers by rescuing ancient Inca weaving techniques. The greatest challenge I have faced is to educate my children in the right path so they may have a professional career. As far as work is concerned, the greatest challenge has been to present our work to people from around the world." "My name is Gregor Brenner Knoch and I was born in Peru on 10 October 1954. I come from an artistic background, therefore the world to me seems more about creativity than technology. Each person is an artist at heart, I think we only need to let our 'artist' out. "What motivates me to do this kind of work is to see natural fibers transformed into garments. We use as reference natural colors including those you see in the Andean landscape, the jungle, and the coast. "We use natural materials including alpaca wool, fine cotton, and silk. We help an Andean community by employing weavers on traditional looms who then help us finish each piece by hand. Sillpa is dedicated to preserving Peru's millenary weaving traditions. "We would like to give our thanks to Novica customers for allowing us to be part of this great international team. We would like to thank you for supporting our art, which in turn will benefit many Peruvian families."

	Customer Reviews
		I have just recieved my Ocean Parallels shawl. I am thrilled with it. It is beautiful beyond belief. Thank you so much for your Lovely work. Athalie Long - Athalie L, Duvall, Washington USA I bought the scarf, Grape Rose, and it is gorgeous. It is soft and luxurious and the colors are beautiful and rich looking. I have already received many compliments on it. Thank you! - Lynn Schaan Raquel and Gregor: I gave one of your blankets to a close friend for Christmas. I opened the lovely wrapped package first to assure the quality was good, and I was THRILLED with the piece! It is flawlessly put together, just as soft as advertised, and with much more complex, subtle color in its all-over "almond" hue than expected. My friend loved it! Thank you for your beautiful work! Fort Wayne, IN USA - anne tirey, fort wayne, in USA Dear Raquel and Gregor, I ordered an alpaca and wool scarf for my sister, who is a professor at the University of Kentucky. The scarf is so soft and well made. She wanted to know how I found it, so she could purchase more. That is the ultimate compliment about a gift. It came beautifully wrapped and adorned with a doll ornamentation which she loved. Thank you for such a special gift! Blessings to you and yours, Donna - Donna Cook, Seguin, TX Once again, I am thrilled with my purchase - the scarf "Morning Fog" has just arrived. It is soft and luxurious and so light and warm to wear. This is my third order from you; previously I bought the alpaca & silk shawl "Golden lands" and the "Holly Berry" fingerless mitts. The quality and style of all products are excellent. Thank you so much, Raquel & Gregor. I am always eager to see what new items you have created. - k I love your scarf - it is luxurious, elegant and luminous; the colours shimmer! I will wear it for many years to come. Thank you. - stéphanie, Montréal, Québec, Canada We just received the beautiful herringbone wine baby alpaca shall I ordered for my mom as a birthday gift for her. She absolutely loves it! Now I want one for myself! It's so beautiful, just as described, the color is rich, and it is so soft to the touch. It even came wrapped in Andes style wrapping with an adorable Peruvian doll attached to the bow. Raquel and Gregor also made a beautiful note for my mom, and sent a handwritten postcard of Machu Picchu with a personalized note to us. Everything arrived right on time, email notifications were sent to help me track my order...all in all, I am so impressed and will definitely be ordering from you all again. Te agradezco por el regalo Raquel y Gregor, y espero que puedo comprar de ustedes muy pronto. Un abrazo desde Tejas! - Monica, Houston, Texas, USA I LOVE the 100% Alpaca wool fingerless mitts, 'Fresh Winter'. I've never felt anything made from Alpaca wool before and absolutely just loved the color. Let me tell you this is the softest material I've ever owned. I'm very happy with these mitts and they fit great too. Please make more of these in different colors. - Minta, Lawrenceburg/TN/USA Loving the alpaca wool hat 'Pink Glam'! The wool is super soft and the quality of both the wool and the knitting is excellent. The '40 cm diameter' hat stretched comfortably over my Olympic-sized, 57 cm diameter head without looking ridiculous at all, which was a pleasant surprise. The colour is delightful. A very nice piece - I would happily order as a gift for any age. I'm pretty sure my nieces and my grandmas would all fight over it! - Jasmine, Australia My girlfriend loved the pink alpaca scarf I gave her for Christmas a couple of years ago. Now she's looking for a red one, so we might come back to Raquel for that as we know we would get a good quality piece of craftsmanship. - Bogdan, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada I just received my alpaca wool scarf 'Gray Duality' and it's very well made and incredibly comfortable.. like wrapping a soft warm cloud around your neck. The shipping was fast and the scarf beautifully packaged with a nice note and picture postcard. Very impressed. - Vance Once again, another purchase that I am proud to give as a gift! The scarf "Hot Chocolate" is beautifully knitted and oh, so soft! Thank you. - KK, Melbourne, Australia The quality of these scarves is amazing! Very soft and warm, and they have such rich colors. The patterns and textures created through the fabric itself adds to the richness of the quality. - Gabriela, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA The scarf looks so much better than it does on the picture. I love the soft feel of it as well. - Ruby Jane, Richmond BC, Canada