A Legacy Spanning Generations and Continents
From anthropology to enterprise, Naturtex pioneers sustainable cotton and alpaca sourcing, weaving Andean heritage with state-of-the-art textile technology.
Our DNA
Nature, The Most Fashionable of Fashions
Fibers and Fashion for the Future are the core of our DNA, and the future is ours to create, if we choose to think and act responsibly. As Diana Vreeland, our founder’s great aunt and former editor of Vogue Magazine, once said:
“Don’t think you were born too late. Everyone has that illusion. But you aren’t. The only problem is if you think too late.”
At Naturtex, we believe that nature is not a trend, but a timeless source of inspiration and that true fashion grows from from nature into novelty and creativity.
Our History
A Legacy Spanning Generations and Continents
With over 50 years of fieldwork and textile expertise, Naturtex’ founder, American anthropologist James M. Vreeland, Jr. leads his team to procure, manufacture, and export ecological textile products from our headquarters in Lima, Peru, a global textile industrial hub for sustainable fashion and fair trade production.
Naturtex is both a company and a brand. As a brand, it represents over a half dozen categories of organic and fair trade textiles, from naturally pigmented Pakucho® cotton yarns to Angel Touch® ethically sourced alpaca yarns and fabrics, sustainable home goods, and natural fiber apparel, developed since 1982. Much like our heirloom fibers, Naturtex has deep roots. Our story begins five generations ago in the textile heart of New York City, on Cortland Street, where Vreeland’s grandfather, German immigrant Karl August Hummel, founded Hummel and Robinson Co. in 1913, at the time a leader in advanced textile dyes and processing chemistry. Under James Sr., the business expanded into aerospace propellants, health and safety products that remain in use worldwide today.
Naturtex carries that legacy forward by specializing in sustainable cotton and alpaca sourcing, linking ancestral Andean practices with our original organic certifiers, and ethical textile production. From field to fabric, every process honors the land, the maker, and the wearer.
This cross-continental legacy was later highlighted by Sourcing Journal, recognizing Naturtex’s pioneering role in ethical textile production and its influence on the global sustainable fashion movement.
Our Purpose
Our Vision
Our Mission
Naturtex is dedicated to forging deep, transparent relationships between those who grow, process, and wear eco textiles. We connect communities, across borders, languages, and generations, through a shared commitment to sustainable fashion.
We work with Indigenous and peasant communities in the Andes who cultivate naturally pigmented cotton in rich, earthy tones: beige, green, chocolate, and mauve fibers first spun thousands of years ago. These heritage cottons are preserved through ancestral farming techniques and processed using GOTS-approved, low-impact methods in modern Peruvian mills.
Our offerings span over 450 different eco textile products, from organic yarns and fair trade cotton fabrics to custom-crafted apparel and accessories. Each item we produce tells a story of regeneration, resilience, and respect for the earth.
Our Approach to Sustainable Cotton and Alpaca Sourcing
From seed to stitch, every Naturtex product begins with a partnership with the land, with the fiber, and with the people who have cultivated both for generations.
Naturtex production is rooted in long-standing collaborations with indigenous communities, desert farmers, and highland herders across Peru. We work directly with those who grow and harvest organic cotton, naturally pigmented Pakucho® fibers, heirloom Pima cotton, and true-color alpaca all without synthetic inputs or exploitative practices. These relationships are not transactional; they are cultural, ecological, and ethical bonds formed over decades. Our model is based on transparent, sustainable cotton and alpaca sourcing rooted in Andean ecosystems.
We do not outsource sustainability, we build it from the ground up.
Our cotton sourcing began with a bold initiative in the Amazon highlands in 1984, reviving native cotton as a viable alternative to coca for local horticulturalists. That same spirit of regeneration shapes all our sourcing today from desert-grown color-grown cottons in mauve and green tones, to the longest, softest white Pima staples cultivated organically in the north. Our cotton is ginned, spun, and dyed in Peru following GOTS-approved low-impact processes.
In the high jungle, we collaborate with the Shipibo-Conibo people, who dye our Amazonian cotton polos with ancestral plant-based colors: huito, an edible jungle fruit, coca leaf, mahogany, mango and almond bark; producing truly natural, and unique apparel.
In the Andean highlands, our Organic Alpaca Fiber Project protects biodiversity and supports Andean herders through an ancestral, chemical-free model of animal husbandry. The alpacas roam freely, grazing on native grasses and rotating across open pastures, cared for by Indigenous pastoralists under trained veterinary supervision. We pay a premium for naturally colored fleece to help preserve the genetic diversity and integrity of this millennia-old species.
Finally, innovation has a place in our sourcing too. With Qoperfina®, we introduced a new kind of textile: a therapeutic, breathable blend of organic cotton, baby alpaca, and pure copper fiber, offering antimicrobial and wellness benefits for clothing, bedding, and intimate wear.
From the forest to the mountains to the mill, every step of our sourcing is transparent, ethical, and uniquely Peruvian.
Learn more about our Projects here.
Certification and Beyond
Built on Trust, Backed by Standards
In 1997, Naturtex became the first company in the Americas to have its entire organic cotton production certified by SKAL / Control Union (Skal 4235) and USA NOP (National Organic Program). Today, we proudly hold the longest uninterrupted certification history in the world for organic cotton textiles.
That same year, we also obtained the prestigious EKO Sustainable Textiles Certification (Skal 5051), now recognized globally as part of the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) the leading benchmark for eco-friendly and socially responsible textile processing.
In 2005, Naturtex made history once again as the first textile company in the Americas to be Fair Trade Certified (FLO-CERT ID 4543). This distinction, now under our Control Union Fair Choice label, underscores our longstanding commitment to ethical cotton production and sustainable trade partnerships with Andean farming and artisan communities.
These milestones reflect more than certifications, they’re part of our long-standing approach to sustainable cotton and alpaca sourcing, rooted in transparency, cultural respect, and ecological integrity.
In 2010, we introduced the world’s first religious textile certification: Shatnez Free Organic®, based on the Biblical Hebrew term Ša’atnez, which prohibits the mixing of wool and linen. This certification ensures our cotton garments are free from such blends. Shatnez Free Organic® offers observant Jewish and Muslim communities a reliable, transparent source of certified organic cotton clothing that respects their religious values.
All Naturtex products bearing the SKAL and EKO-quality seal are guaranteed to be free from synthetic additives pure in the fields, factories, fabrics, and families of our global partners and customers.
Beyond Certification
Because of our near three-decade reliance on internationally accredited certification bodies, we feel compelled to alert prospective buyers to the alarming rise in fraudulent use of these certifications and irregularities in their issuance. Peru, unfortunately, is no exception. Recent export data indicates that up to 90% of cotton textiles shipped from Peru do not contain Peruvian cotton. Government agricultural records show a steep decline in Peruvian cotton harvests, from 260,000 hectares in the mid-1960s to less than 1% of that today. Authentic Peruvian Pima cotton is nearing extinction, with USDA reports predicting the total disappearance of cotton in Peru within a few years.
So, where is this cotton coming from? Predominantly from subsidized U.S. sources and, more significantly, from large-scale Indian spinners with advanced technologies who pay suppressed prices to local farmers. Today, the credibility of Indian organic cotton certification is questionable. Control Union Certifications, our certifier since 1997, lost accreditation after a government audit uncovered ongoing fraudulent practices involving genetically modified cotton seeds labeled and exported as organic under GOTS.
Despite this, exports of “Peruvian cotton” fabrics and garments persist, supported by dubious certificates of origin. The uncomfortable truth: Peruvian cotton is vanishing, and without urgent intervention, this trend may be irreversible.
Naturtex is committed to reversing this reality and safeguarding sustainable Peruvian textiles. We are taking action in three ways:
- Tour to the Source: We offer visitors firsthand exposure to what’s happening in the fields, connecting directly with farmers, workers, and supervisors.
- Center for the Interpretation of Organic Cotton: Located just outside Lima, our farm serves as a living research and education center. Here, we demonstrate organic cultivation on a micro-scale, combining pre-Columbian “paleo-technologies,” traditional peasant farming methods, and modern ecological strategies.
- Certified Product of Origin: In 2024, Naturtex and three non-profit institutions secured Peru’s first-ever Product of Origin certification for Peruvian Pima and Native cotton, approved by INDECOPI.
This is our commitment, not just to the preservation of Peruvian cotton, but to the future of transparent, traceable, and sustainable Peruvian textiles.
