Product line Shawls Lace Wraps Scarves Hats Ribbon Shawls
Helena Margareta collection showcases luxurious wearable art, created and made in Canada by knitwear designer Helena Cernigoj.
The alpaca shawls and wraps are knit from the finest Canadian alpaca fibre.
The rare suri and the finest huacaya alpaca fibres are selected from alpaca ranches in Canada, custom spun into yarn for the designer at the mill, and are often blended with silk to enchance the luster, feel, and drape of the finished product.
The yarn fibres – with over 20 natural shades, including the rare chocolate brown, mahogany and jet black – are selectively hand-dyed by Helena herself, to enhance their beauty and functionality.
Knit on a loom-style artisan knitting machine, and hand-finished with old-world embellishments, Helena creates her own designs and compliments the alpaca with the finest European yarns. Her love is in designing the knits that compliment every woman’s beauty and style. Fusing art and fashion, the knits become timeless classics with modern flair.
The ribbon scarves are knit, woven and crocheted with fine Canadian and European yarns. Their softness, fusion of colour and organic texture makes them perfect accessories for women of all ages.
The hat line offers hats from alpaca, silk, llama and merino wool. Many hats are unique designs, and the selection varies each season. Funky jester hats are hand-dyed and one-of-a-kind. Contact us for our current selection.
About alpaca
While alpaca history dates back over 6,000 years, their ancestry stretches back forty million years, originating in South America.
For thousands of years, the alpaca fibre has been considered as good as gold in South American culture, reserved only for royalty. Alpaca is considered among the world’s most luxurious fibers of the world, compared in softness to cashmere and smoothness and strength to silk.
Alpaca is extremely valued because it is lustrous, strong, dirt-repellent, drapes beautifully and is not prone to pilling. Although it is warmer than wool (about seven times warmer), it is many times lighter, due to its hollow core. This makes alpaca lightweight and easy to wear year round, even in South American temperatures.
Alpaca does not have lanolin, and is therefore hypoallergenic - perfect for people who are otherwise allergic to wool.
Alpaca fiber is available in 22 natural hues, from white to grey, chocolate brown and black shades. Its protein fibers are excellent for dying, which makes the selection of colours literally endless.
Alpaca Breeds
There are two distinct breeds of alpaca; Suri and Huacaya.
Suri Alpacas are very rare; only 5% of alpacas in the world are Suri. Their hair hangs down from their bodies in dreadlock-like ringlets. The feel of this fibre is silky and creamy, perfect for shawls and wraps, as it drapes. Suri fibre is among the most prized alpaca 
fibers in today’s top fashion industry. Most of our Exotic Fibertwists’s shawls and wraps are knit in Suri fibres from Canadian Suri alpacas.
Huacaya alpacas have fluffy hair that grows straight out from their bodies, has more crimp and fluffiness than Suri and it is most versatile to knit with. Designer Helena blends much of her Huacaya fibre with silk to add shine and luster, and a touchable softness.
What makes Alpaca unique
- Luxurious softness
- Strength and warmth
- Durability
- All-season wear
- Hypoallergenic
