Up to 20% discount Peruvian Connection Selected Favourites
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Peruvian Connection sells expensive sweaters made of expensive wool. This is not a secret. The company, founded nearly 50 years ago by an American family with a taste for alpaca, has carved out a quiet corner of the fashion universe, catering to customers who prefer their global artisan goods wrapped…Peruvian Connection sells expensive sweaters made of expensive wool. This is not a secret. The company, founded nearly 50 years…
Ends: 1+ month Used: 1 time
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
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Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Terms & conditions, exclusions may apply.
Peruvian Connection sells expensive sweaters made of expensive wool. This is not a secret. The company, founded nearly 50 years ago by an American family with a taste for alpaca, has carved out a quiet corner of the fashion universe, catering to customers who prefer their global artisan goods wrapped in gauzy catalogues and soft marketing speak. Its pitch? Handcrafted clothes made from luxury Peruvian fibers - mainly alpaca and pima cotton - spun into heirloom-quality garments that are ethical, sustainable, seasonless, or whatever copywriting calls for this week.
The company blends nostalgia with commerce, hawking a kind of global-citizen aesthetic best described as Anthropologie’s sensible older cousin. This is slow fashion for someone who has probably been to Machu Picchu, or at least owns a coffee-table book about it. Beneath the cozy surface, however, is a more workaday fashion brand - one with typical markdown tactics, regular promotional cycles, and a fondness for dressing up ordinary discounts in the language of rarefied style.
It’s not exactly revolutionary - and that's the point.
Peruvian Connection’s entire brand identity rests on the idea that its clothes are handmade in Peru by skilled artisans using natural materials. This is true, but only in the way that any global fashion supply chain is "true." While the company avoids the industrial churn of fast fashion and works with small-scale workshops and family-run businesses in Peru, it’s still part of a global retail system that relies on scale, logistics, and sales funnels. Its wares are available through its website, in 10 branded stores in the US and UK, and on Amazon - a nod to reach over rustic charm.
Despite the artisanal framing, Peruvian Connection is, at its core, a retail business. The clothes are sold at a premium, with dresses typically running £200–£400. The knitting is done in Peru; the markups, elsewhere.
"The word 'artisan' gets thrown around a lot," says Veronica Jones, a fashion sustainability researcher at the University of Leeds. "You need to look past the brand story and ask what's really different: Is it the supply chain, the labor conditions, the materials? Or just the marketing?"
The company’s current marketing language leans heavily on discounts - first-order codes, seasonal sales, flash promos, cyber deals, and even military discounts up to 30%. If this sounds like standard ecommerce practice, that’s because it is. But instead of pushing their latest sale with email subject lines that scream "BOGO," the tone from Peruvian Connection is soft, almost conspiratorial - like you’re in on an elegant secret.
In reality, the retail rhythm is very visible: free shipping over a threshold (currently £130 in the UK), a standing 20% off for new email subscribers, and regular off-season clearance events. They also dangle a £750 gift card prize via newsletter sign-up - a loyalty tactic familiar to anyone who’s clicked "subscribe" on an online clothing site within the last decade.
One of the more unusual moves for a boutique fashion brand is Peruvian Connection’s military discount. It’s presented as a gesture of gratitude, though it’s also the kind of mass-appeal tactic more often seen at Old Navy or Target. Eligible customers can shave an extra 30% off their orders - about as generous as discounts get on the site.
Are these attempts at inclusivity admirable? Sure. Are they also strategic price segmentation designed to turn occasional browsers into buyers? Definitely.
"These discounts are less about altruism than acquisition," says Mark Haynes, a digital marketing consultant for mid-size fashion brands. "They’re giving different groups ‘special’ pricing so they feel like they’re getting something exclusive, even if most shoppers are paying the same after all the offers are factored in."
For a company that trades in premium perception, Peruvian Connection keeps its shipping and delivery options fairly grounded. UK customers can expect to start at £7.95 for standard delivery unless they cross the free-delivery threshold. Returns are accepted within 90 days, provided the item is unwashed, unworn, and not final sale. Again, this mimics industry norms while maintaining an air of refinement.
Free delivery promotions and occasional international shipping discounts round out the package. The logistics aren’t luxurious, but they’re functional - and in fashion ecommerce, that’s half the battle.
Peruvian Connection is a family affair. Annie Hurlbut Zander co-founded the company in 1976 with her mother, Biddy Hurlbut, after Annie’s travels to Peru as a Yale anthropology student. She was reportedly enchanted by the fiber arts of the Andes and wanted to bring their tactile complexity to an American audience.
This narrative has been lovingly retold, complete with a now-legendary early boost from The New York Times. The company’s origin story has all the marks of classic founder lore - with a slightly editorial sheen. Think: Ivy League meets textiles of the Southern Hemisphere, brushed lightly with wanderlust. It’s a good story. It sells.
But nearly five decades later, the company is neither startup nor scrappy upstart. It’s an established operation with a full ecommerce buildout, international shipping infrastructure, and a regular promotional calendar. "We have aging hippie customers and younger boho types all feeding the same machine," as one former employee put it, with only half a smile.
In the end, Peruvian Connection is what it says on the label: a brand selling fairly expensive clothes made largely in Peru, trading on a persona of sustainable artisanry. What it’s not is game-changing or disruptive, as the venture-language du jour might suggest. And that’s probably a good thing.
It’s hard to fault a brand for succeeding, and Peruvian Connection has built a tidy niche. Still, let’s not mistake tasteful catalogues and soft-focus photography for radical transparency. Behind the imported textiles and poetic product names lies a competent retail engine, quietly humming along with the same promotional levers as nearly every other apparel company.
You can call it ethical. You can call it elegant. But it’s still just a shop.
Peruvian Connection’s shipping policy is perhaps best described as understated. The website includes a USPS return label in every U.S. order but says little else directly about delivery timelines, costs, or shipping methods. It’s best to assume the basics—standard fare for e-commerce in 2024—and contact customer service if you’re expecting nuance. If international, you’re on your own.
The returns policy is more expansive, if not more thrilling. Customers have 30 days to return unworn, unwashed, and tagged items for a refund to the original payment method. After that, the window extends up to 90 days, but only for store credit at the current selling price. Beyond 90 days, your fashion misstep becomes permanent.
Holiday shoppers get a seasonal reprieve: purchases made from November 1 to December 25 can be returned until January 31. A small nod to retail reality.
Returns are processed within three weeks, a pace unlikely to shock anyone familiar with warehouse logistics. Customers can track progress online or wait patiently for an email. Exchanges are shipped free, provided you’re trading across equal or lesser value.
Wallpaper, of all things, is treated with a separate policy. It’s final sale unless unopened and returned within 14 days. Samples are non-returnable, which makes one wonder why wallpaper is even sold online—but that’s another column.
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