Mayu is the top Internet shop for fashionable, hand-knit, alpaca scarves. Our one-of-a-kind (professionally designed) scarves are knit with only the best, 100% pure alpaca fiber by a group of artisans in rural Peru. Oh, and we are members of the Fair Trade Federation too. Shop our alpaca scarf collection today.
Ruffled Alpaca Scarf
Alpaca Infinity Scarf with Bow
Floral Alpaca Scarf
Unisex Infinity Alpaca Scarf
Looking for Chicago’s hottest alpaca scarves and Fair Trade accessories? Mayu has Chicago’s highest quality, softest and most unique designs on the market (just read what our customers say). There will also be lots of other fun items for sale including locally produced Chicago food. Yum! We love to support Chicago’s local businesses.
We will have our hand-knit alpaca scarves, hats and the rest of the alpaca goodies this Saturday at the Ms. Mint holiday shopping event in Chicago. Come and check us out there and get those last minute holiday gifts. We will also have a few select SALE items available.
Mention this blog post for 10% off!
Sat. Dec. 17, 10 am – 6 pm.
Grossinger City Autoplex
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
Its cold now — looks like that Indian summer in Fall is no longer! So now, its time to shop Mayu’s hand-knit alpaca clothes and accessories. We have beautifully knit alpaca scarves, alpaca hats and alpaca wraps — there is winter fashion for everyone at all price points. We also have a special SALE basket too.
We will be at St. Pats this Sunday, Oct. 23, in Chicago’s downtown loop. There is lots going on at the solidarity market…all sorts of vendors with Fair Trade and sustainably produced products from both abroad and locally produced. Personally, I’m looking forward to all the delicious homemade food options!
Come check us out and pick yourself up a new winter scarf or hat. You are going to want it…
Tell your friends too!
Wow, it has been a while! I was busy working in Uganda on a project with Solar Sister, a social enterprise working to empower women through the sale of Solar Lamps. I bought my first Solar Lamp and was camping this past weekend. It sure did come in handy! Uganda was a fabulous experience and there were lots of rustic crafts that I imagined alongside Mayu’s hand-knit, eco-friendly, fair trade alpaca clothes and fair trade gifts. In fact, I picked up just a few, one of my favorite times to shop…
Now that I’m back in action, today is the perfect day to bring attention to Fair Trade as it is WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY! 80+ countries are celebrating and you should too! Besides buying yourself something special (ie: one of Mayu’s fair trade gifts such as alpaca scarves or alpaca throws), how about changing your habits? This year, the challenge is to incorporate Fair Trade into your daily breakfast routine. It is easy…
“We’re not asking for big change,” said Paul Rice, President and CEO of Fair Trade USA,“ just small every day changes—switching a cup of coffee, a banana, a chocolate bar to one that’s Fair Trade Certified—to empower both consumers to make a difference and farmers to improve their lives and plan for a better future. It’s great to wake up every day and know that you’re part of a movement that has the power to change the world.”
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
Peace Corps recently celebrated the agency’s 50th anniversary. Nearly 20,000 people attended 740 parties in 76 countries around the world. From small gatherings of friends to street festivals, there are a myriad of ways that Peace Corps Volunteers celebrated their service.
“The Peace Corps completely changed everything in my life,” says Returned Peace Corps volunteer Anne Rimoin. “It changed who I was. It changed my perception of the world, and my perception of what I could do in the world.”
Peace Corps was the reason I started Mayu. I absolutely fell in love with all things Peru and Mayu has given me the opportunity to stay connected to the artisans (fabulous knitters) with whom I worked during my service. A majority of my Peace Corps assignment was to help the knitters to understand both Western markets and Western customers. Through Mayu, the artisans have been given the opportunity to earn fair wages and become more independent while doing what they both enjoy and excel in – knitting. There are many similar Peace Corps stories out there, which I love to hear…as cliche as it may sound, it really is a life changing experience.
Learn more about the Peace Corps and discover the origins of Mayu’s hand-knit alpaca accessories on our website.
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
Proud owner of a Mayu alpaca accessory? Or, maybe, you have purchased our products for your friends and family? We’d love you to share your impressions using our new “disqus” function, which can be found on all of Mayu’s alpaca product pages.
Our hand-knit scarves and hats, shawls, wraps, and throws are ready to be reviewed and discussed! Please share…
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
Fair Trade has for long been an organization that Mayu has been involved with. After Peace Corps took me to Peru and after founding Mayu to help empower Andean knitters, I worked for Chicago Fair Trade (CFT) and sat on the executive board. This organization works to increase support for fair trade in the Chicago metro area through education, advocacy and targeted consumer campaigns.
CFT has come a long way since it was created in 2006. With only 24 founding members at inception, CFT has nearly tripled its number of member organizations by 2011. CFT now stands at 70 organizational members, including businesses, nonprofits, universities and student groups, and faith based organizations.
Profit and non-for-profit members of CFT agree that more could be achieved through one unified group than individual voices. They see the value of banding together with like-minded individuals and businesses to broaden and deepen the awareness of fair trade in the Chicago area, allowing U.S. customers to be exposed to and understand the impact that fair trade makes in poor countries.
Mayu is an enterprise built around Fair Trade ideology. By that, we understand more than just paying fair wages of our Peruvian artisans; we also contribute to social development to Andean villages, and help the knitters to leverage their skills without a need to leave their homes and families. Visit Mayu online shop for high-quality, one-of-a-kind, hand-knit alpaca clothing.
And, if you are in the Chicago area, don’t forget to get involved with Chicago Fair Trade. If you are in another city, check out what the local scene looks like. There is sure to be something Fair Trade Friendly in your own neighborhood!
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
Like most Latin American countries, Peru has a rich history mixing cultures, political regimes, as well as economic successes and downturns. As many other businesses, organizations, and communities, Mayu is looking forward to Presidential Elections, expected to take place this April. Everyone is interested, whether political leadership change will sustain the level of financial and economic development, and to what extent economic interests of the growing middle class will dominate those in favor of a more socialist agenda.
Despite a record of strong economic growth, Peru’s current president Alan García of the Partido Aprista Peruano (Apra) will end his second, non-consecutive term in July 2011 with reduced political capital and a severely weakened party as a result of repeated corruption scandals involving its leaders. He is not allowed to candidate for the third term, and the Finance Minister Mercedes Araoz stood down as Apra’s presidential candidate due to internal issues.
For the last year, Peru had four main presidential candidates: Luis Castañeda, the former major of the capital, Lima, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of a jailed, but still popular, former President, Alberto Fujimori, former president Alejandro Toledo (pictured on the left), and radical nationalist Ollanta Humala, who is supported by Venezuela, and just slightly lost the Presidential elections in 2006. Popular opinions have shifted several times, and a month before the first round of elections on the basis of support in both rural and urban areas and positive perceptions of his first term in office, Alejandro Toledo is likely to win the other candidates.
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
The non-profit organization, Global Action Through Fashion (GATF), recently organized a panel to discuss the main challenges of Fair Trade in Fashion Businesses. The organization argues that the Fair Trade concept is well established in the farming industry, but customers often do not understand the added value in the clothing business, which can be very complex, complicated and somewhat controversial. Moreover, the article states that consumers often lack knowledge and interest in the clothes making process…but, based on my experience I’d say that is changing pretty quickly! Learn about the clothes making process of Mayu’s Fair Trade, hand-knit, eco-friendly alpaca clothes here.
Another general Fair Trade challenge is the one of bureaucracy (eek!). Experts have found Fair Trade certification difficult for small businesses given the administrative burden of obtaining the label. Fair Trade USA admits, that automated part is often insignificant in small businesses, and obtaining a certificate thus relatively more complex.
Fair Trade is perhaps the most knows in connection to coffee and fair wages, however Fair Trade certification means much more. Fair Trade brand awareness has increased in the last decade, and now several thousands of products, including rice, bananas, tea, wine, and textiles are traded to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Learn more about the selection of Fair Trade products at the Fair Trade Federation and, if you are interested in hand-knit alpaca clothing and winter wear, check out Mayu!
Beyond offering fair pay to workers, Fair Trade promotes fair labor standards and pricing, sustainable business and socially responsible business practices. Communities that participate in fair trade are guaranteed minimum pay, plus social price premium for community development and preservation. Fair Trade communities are also most likely to use sustainable ways of conducting businesses – such as organic farming and eco-friendly clothes. It is also common for Fair Trade communities to reinvest locally – in training of other community members, education of their children, strengthening democracy and better governance, and supporting other local businesses.
Mayu is a member of Fair Trade Federation. Here are some examples, how we help Chiquian through our business:
Fair wages: minimum wage in Peru is less than $200/ month; in addition jobs in rural villages are limited, seasonal, and difficult option for a family to sustain sufficient income. Mayu knitters earn reasonable pay for their high quality work – much higher than an average rural worker. In fact, they tell us how much they want to make and we base our prices on that!
Fair labor conditions: Mayu knitters work using high quality materials and in clean environment. Mayu also does not use child labor, instead we have created conditions in which knitters can work at home, taking care of their families and earning enough to support education of their children.
Direct trade: there are no intermediaries between Chiquian and Chicago. One of Mayu knitters takes an 8 hour long bus ride to Lima, and ships all throws, scarves, shawls and accessories to the US, where they are received and resent to our customers.
Community development: Mayu knitters reinvest their income in other local businesses in the village such as the local grocers, clothing shops and school supplies stores.
For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, and Facebook, and hear more stories from the field on our Blog!
