Paka Targets 90% Natural Fiber by 2035 as Synthetics Exit the Mix

Paka has committed to sourcing more than 90% of its fibers from natural and plant-based sources by 2035, a target that requires lifting a portfolio currently sitting at just over 70%. CEO and founder Kris Cody announced the pledge in a company post marking the brand's 10th anniversary, calling it the guiding objective for its next chapter.

The B Corp-certified (a certification for companies meeting social and environmental performance standards) apparel maker plans to cut synthetic material use while scaling regenerative pima cotton and hemp, according to a separate press statement. The commitment lands at the raw-material tier of the supply chain — fiber sourcing — with Peru as its anchor region.

What stands between Paka and the target?

Performance-critical synthetics are the sticking point. Even Paka's flagship product, The Hoodie, contains synthetic content.

"Even our original Hoodie contains 35 percent recycled nylon," Cody said. "Replacing certain materials without compromising performance won't be easy, but we believe we can get there and are going to keep pushing ourselves to figure out how."

That 35% nylon figure is the honest commercial heart of this pledge. Recycled nylon is itself a lower-impact input, but it is not natural fiber — and swapping it out without losing durability or stretch in a core product is a genuine material-development challenge, not a procurement formality.

How the brand built its Peru supply chain

Paka's identity runs through alpaca wool grown in the Andes by alpaqueros — Peruvian alpaca farmers whose herds, typically 60 to 90 animals, roam freely at altitudes around 15,000 feet in rural Andes. The company officially launched in 2016, after a 2015 backpacking trip led founder Cody to a sweater made by Gregoria Yucra Chamb of the Peruvian Quechuan tribe, according to a 2022 Bloomberg report. A Kickstarter campaign in 2017 raised more than $347,000 against a $20,000 goal.

Growth into underwear, bras and accessories forced sourcing beyond alpaca into other materials, and the supply chain had to be constructed from scratch.

"When we began, there was no supply chain set up," said Gisella Garate, Paka's director of Peru and impact. "So, we had to build this bridge ourselves to trace the alpaca fiber in your clothing all the way from the fiber to the garment that arrives at your doorstep."

Traceability is already in place

In 2024, Paka launched a traceability program covering its entire product line. Every product now carries a QR code on its hangtag linking to the precise coordinates where the alpaca fiber was sourced — a level of farm-level (tier-four, raw-material) visibility most apparel brands have not achieved.

Cody said each new product going forward will follow four principles: going to the source of the fiber, choosing partners such as farmers and craftspeople, making products traceable, and giving back to producing communities.

"Paka started in the Andes Mountains, where alpacas have evolved alongside the local alpaqueros for thousands of years," Garate said.

What it means for sourcing teams

The takeaway for practitioners: a natural-fiber transition of this scale lives or dies on material substitution in existing SKUs, not new-product announcements. Watch whether Paka reformulates The Hoodie's 35% nylon content — that will tell you if the 2035 pledge is engineering or marketing.