AKANA – “Here, in this place”
Akana comes from the Andean language Aymara. It is born from the inspiration of our mountains, our volcanoes, the connection with nature, respect for it and living with what it offers us. With Akana we want to transmit all this, delivering the warmth of nature through unique pieces and valuing artisan production processes.
Our atelier is located in Arequipa and we are proud to be able to produce our raw materials and our final products “here, in this place”
Our raw material comes exclusively from the hides recovered from the food industry of the Peruvian highlands, which we carefully process and treat to bring it to life in new contemporary forms.
AKANA is committed to offering products made using less polluting and natural processes. Reducing losses, reusing and working in a closed cycle are some of the ideas that we propose within our work philosophy.
About AKANA
We are Adri, Carla and Ana Lu, sisters and creators of this family project AKANA.
Our desire is to be able to bring you timeless, authentic and handmade products, maintaining current artisan techniques and using natural materials.
Do you want to collaborate?
Write us
info@akana-atelier.com
Our raw material
All our products are made by hand using soft and natural genuine leather. For the elaboration of our products we only use leather from the food industry to guarantee that no animal dies for its skin.
Our sheep and alpaca skins have been collected from the Peruvian highlands where our suppliers visit small towns collecting the hides from different areas of the Peruvian highlands.
The peccary skins are collected from native communities of the Peruvian jungle, which are regulated by INRENA, an entity that granted us the CITES permit, which thus guarantees the preservation of the species and its origin.
The collectors in the Iquitos region travel the Amazon river collecting peccary skins from different Amazonian communities, which are later transferred to our production point in Arequipa, Peru.
Our leathers are processed through long processes where traditional and contemporary techniques converge, to finally obtain hides and leathers with a unique and natural appearance. We believe in leather as a natural material that has stood the test of time with its enduring quality, unmatched look and feel.
Philosophy and values
At Akana we aim to be as sustainable as possible.
We continue to evolve and learn as we grow to make as positive an impact as we can environmentally and ethically..
Far from mass production, at AKANA we seek to carry out a conscious and careful process where the material is reused and reinvented, giving it new uses.
Our products have been made reflecting our values: timeless, handmade and made with authentic materials. We work with artisans who have perfected their work over the years which, together with selected high-quality materials, detailed tracery, stitching to hand melt into transcendental pieces of craft.
We work to order, so we take a few days to develop your accessories, in this way we do not have overstock and we process only what is necessary, avoiding mass production.
AKANA and its Upcycling process
The materials we use to make our small accessories come from an upcycling process.
They are skins that have not been exported over the years because they have a small hole or because they are very small.
However, they are excellent quality skins. These skins have been left over the years and we have decided to give them a new life, this complying with our ZERO WASTE policy.
The Tulli purse, the vest, the AKANA tote bag and the abril bag have been made with this authentic material.
At AKANA ATELIER this process is balanced, conscious and careful.
“We use classic materials that are brought to life in new contemporary ways.”
Do you want to collaborate?
Write us
info@akana-atelier.com