Siblings spin family pet into family business, capitalizing on alpaca’s plush potential

One Wyandotte County family’s trip to a local fair inspired their interest in alpacas, but it wasn’t until they brought one of the animals home as a pet that they realized the business opportunities they’d unleashed.

Giancarlo, Glynis, Stephanie and Stephen Castaneda, GG’s Alpaca Farm

“That’s where the idea started of — ‘Hey, we can actually make this an Alpaca clothing company and reduce the waste in the environment while introducing people to a need they may not know about,” said Glynis Castaneda, president and co-owner of GG’s Alpaca Farm.

A member of the latest NXTSTAGE Customer Traction Cohort through Wichita-based NXTUS, the GG’s Alpaca Farm apparel brand was founded by siblings Glynis, Giancarlo, and Stephen Castaneda, who also owns Good Good Golf. The family began exploring the potential within their pet’s fiber after regularly shearing their first alpaca, Montana.

Rather than discard it, Castaneda and her brothers decided to keep the fiber, spin it, make wool, and turn it into sweaters, socks, footwear, baby clothes, blankets, and plush teddy bear toys.

Click here to shop GG’s Alpaca Farm.

Montana, GG’s Alpaca Farm

All in the fiber

With many consumers making purchasing decisions linked to their sensitive skin, GG’s Alpaca Farm’s apparel stands out because of the alpaca fur’s hypoallergenic qualities, Castaneda said. Recognizing this, the family markets apparel specifically for infants, including swaddling blankets, onesies and booties.

After giving her friend a blanket to try out with her newborn son, Castaneda reported great results.

“She told me that he breaks out with everything; he has not broken out since,” Castaneda said.

The family’s close ties to Peru — although not native to the country — have been instrumental in  sourcing top-tier alpaca fiber to use for their products.

“​We wanted to be able to give [local farmers and artisans in Peru] work to do in their own community, but also where they could make a living off of it as well,” said Castaneda. “We’re Hispanic so we also definitely want to support anyone in a Hispanic country.”

2024 NXTSTAGE Customer Traction cohort; photo courtesy of NXTUS

New to NXTUS

Back home in Kansas, GG’s Alpaca Farm is getting more and more embedded in the local entrepreneurship community — including joining the NXTUS cohort in January.

“It’s a really wonderful opportunity,” Castaneda said of the program which offers entrepreneurs support and mentorship. “They walk you through how to grow a small business. Most people think it starts with selling products, and that’s not it; you actually have to start from the ground up.”

The insight Castaneda gains through the week-to-week check-ins is invaluable, she said, noting one example being advice that they start giving out pamphlets about GG’s Alpaca Farm in pediatric offices to market the business more directly.

“That may sound so minute, but I would have never thought to bring even a pamphlet to a doctor’s office, or anywhere because some stuff is so digital now,” she said. “It has helped us in many, many ways.”

Glynis Castaneda, GG’s Alpaca Farm

From farm to NYFW

The farm’s leap into the fashion world was unexpected yet exciting for the family, Castaneda said. Her participation in New York Fashion Week in September 2023 opened doors and propelled GG’s onto a global stage, she added.

Stephanie and Glynis Castaneda, GG’s Alpaca Farm

Chosen to be in NYFW as a model, Castaneda — who also represented Kansas in the Miss World America pageant in 2023 — started seeing emails about vendors who would be at the event and people bringing their clothing brands to shows. She and her mother, Stephanie Castaneda, decided to do the same for GG’s Alpaca Farm this year.

“We’re introducing it to more individuals who are fashion-conscious content creators,” she said. “I love it everytime I go. I was there as a vendor for the most recent one and it was so fun.”

Looking ahead, GG’s Alpaca Farm has ambitious goals for 2024.

“We plan to continue expanding our company,” Castaneda said, highlighting their focus on both digital advertising with their social media and spreading the word. “We always want our customers to be involved in what we are selling, because we are doing this for them just as much as we’re doing this for the environment and for us.”