$33,000 Coats, Vicuñas and the Cost of Quiet Luxury
On today’s Big Take podcast, we trace the origin of Loro Piana’s $9,000 vicuña sweaters back to the Andes mountains — and unpack the complex history behind what the trade of the luxury material means for the Indigenous communities that collect it.
A group of vicuñas gather in a corral in the Pampa Galeras National Reserve during the traditional “Chaccu” ceremony where farmers shear their wool, in the Andean highlands of Ayacucho, Peru, June 24, 2023.
Photographer: Angela Ponce for Bloomberg Businessweek
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On today’s Big Take podcast, we trace the origin of Loro Piana’s $9,000 vicuña sweaters to the Andes mountains. Bloomberg’s Marcelo Rochabrun joins host Sarah Holder to unspool what it all means for the Indigenous communities that harvest the wool.