Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Peru Part 1




               
Machu Picchu
 Three years ago Suleyman and I took one of our dream vacations to Peru to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, explore the Sacred Valley and visit the islands of Lake Titicaca.
Sacred Valley
Lake Titicaca

While we were there we did lots of shopping.  We started with one of the best, the Sunday market in Pisac.   We bought art from local artisans, jewelry and amazing leather and tapestry boots.  While in Cusco we went to several markets, a beautiful produce market (one of my favorite places to visit when in another country), a smoothie and juice market, and a random collection of goods market.  This was a great place to see what the Peruvians were buying and the best place for a bargain.
Pisac Market

In Lima there is an abundance of markets offering handicrafts from all over Peru.  We bought jewelry, carpets, pillows, woven bags and scarves.  Every market we went to we found beautiful baby alpaca sweaters, rich in quality and style.  It inspired Suleyman and I to start importing our own line of sweaters from Peru.  The following year we started our clothing line ZuZu Apparel. 
Preview of ZuZu Apparel Fall 2013
Preview of ZuZu Apparel Fall 2013

















We now go to Peru every year in April to go to Peru Moda, a fashion event in Lima.  We visit our two fair trade manufactures in Lima to work on future seasons and we see what new designers are working on.   It’s a very creative event, with designers weaving their way through fashion.