Jesús
Jesús is the Dad, and Veronica the Mum of this lovely family in Southern Peru. Jesús and Veronica live in a small town in the Andes Mountains of Southern Peru and make those La Sierra toys we love.
Jesús has a daughter who goes to university in Cusco and a son who is in a local school. His wife also helps with the family business in more of a clean-up role after production in their workspace. Jesús is a very professional, humble man who is extremely proud of his work.
He is from a long line of toymakers and produces some of the best quality bears in Peru, crafting with only Baby Alpaca.
How we met Jesús!
It took us a while to track down the type of quality we were after in our toy production. After searching from North to South of Peru, we finally found our artisan toymakers!
René spoke to many people in Lima and Cusco and was eventually pointed to a small town a few hours out from Cusco. This town is famous for producing the best quality toys in Peru; where the local toy makers are called los peliteros (loosely translating to the hair makers, or the furriers).
We had no contacts in this town, so René did what any local would do and started asking around if anyone knew any toymakers. Luckily, this method worked well, and he ended up with numbers for a few different people.
One man, Jesús, was especially recommended for being the best in the town, and René contacted him first. However, Jesús was hesitant to work with us at first. He is very selective about who he works with and normally sells exclusively to foreigners. There are a lot of scams in South America, so Jesús was cautious when he heard a local
voice over the phone!
Through their conversation, René told him about Australia and La Sierra. Jesús then took René to his house and showed him his workspace. We have been collaborating with him ever since and he has played a crucial role in the success of our toy production!
We had the pleasure of revisiting in 2018 and again in 2021, and on both occasions, we had the opportunity to meet not only his family but also his employees, with whom we enjoyed a wonderful lunch cooked by Veronica.
Jesus is also the maker that produces our Alpaca Fleece Rugs and Cushion Covers! He crafts with both Huacaya Alpaca and Suri Alpaca fleeces.
The crafting process is long, and we need to order these products with a lot of time.
Our Values!
Every item made is unique as the fleece is natural and honours the natural tones of the Alpaca. As they are all handmade, our luxe bears have their unique individual looks – you can really see their different personalities. We love getting to know each bear and admire the beauty in the unique differences in these products.
We give them time to make the best quality toys from Alpaca fleece and pay fair prices to provide opportunities for their children.
We are lucky to have found Jesús so that we can share with you his quality work. Our luxury bears bring everyone so much joy and the softest cuddles!
