Get To Know The Founders of Animaná and Munkh

GET TO KNOW

The founders of Animaná and Munkh, 2 companies that are making a positive impact through luxury fibers

Story by Diana Keeler / Photography courtesy of Animaná
Eco Faux
Animaná founder Adriana Marina began her company with the goal of making positive changes in sustainability and social development within the fashion industry, and works with local artisans in Patagonia and the Andes to create high-quality baby alpaca fibers for heirloom products meant to last for generations. Munkh founder Bayarmaa works in a parallel manner with Mongolian goat herders who produce some of the world’s finest fibers from sustainable goat cashmere.
Cashmere
Adriana Marina, the founder of Animana, was born in Southern Patagonia where the immensity of the landscape contrasts with the Patagonian coasts, plateaus, desert, and the rugged peaks of the Andes.

Changing social norms have forced the fashion and design industries to confront core concerns about its place within a progressive-minded society. “There’s been increasingly more awareness of all these problems over the past few years, including the impact [fashion manufacturing] has on the environment — pollution, contamination of the water, etc.,” says Animaná founder Adriana Marina, who credits that reckoning to the public’s increased access to information.

"Consumers are more cautious now when they buy their food, clothing, and home accessories." - Animaná founder Adriana Marina

Andean artisans weave baby Alpaca wool into luxuriously soft accessories for Animana. The Animana brand was founded on the pillars of respect for native peoples, animals, nature and Andean traditions.
Andean artisans weave baby Alpaca wool into luxuriously soft accessories for Animana. The Animana brand was founded on the pillars of respect for native peoples, animals, nature and Andean traditions.

With her Buenos Aires-based brand, Marina is working to meet those challenges head on. In the company of like-minded firms like the Mongolian knitwear specialist Munkh, Animana employs local artisans in Patagonia and the Andes, creates a marketplace for high-quality natural fibers, and produces luxurious, heirloom products meant to last for generations — the opposite of the fast-fashion that has until recently been the industry’s preferred mode of operation. The concern for durable value is evident in the brand’s range for Bloomist, which includes lightweight, super-warm throws knit from baby alpaca wool. “They’re soft, light and warm, perfect for traveling and using all around the house,” Marina says.

"Our company works directly with herders who continue the centuries old tradition of tending domesticated goats." Munkh’s founder and creative director, Bayarmaa

Eco Faux
Mongolian nomadic herders shearing cashmere off their goats. These fibers will be spun and woven into soft, light throws for Munkh.

Munkh works in a parallel manner with Mongolian goat herders, who produce what some judge the world’s finest cashmere fibers.

Bayarmaa also stressed that her brand’s environmentally responsible initiatives extend into manufacturing and hiring. “Our factory process has a no waste-concept, and our company is involved in several social responsibility initiatives.”

Both founders emphasize that their efforts will only intensify as public opinion shifts — creating a powerful momentum. “There is still a lot of work to do, especially in a more systematic approach,” Marina says.

"Governments, multinational companies, international organizations, universities should work more together to promote changes from the [bottom] — and on a bigger scale." - Adriana Marina