Our Story: Why Carlos Arias Founded Inspired Peru
Carlos Arias was born and raised in Lima, Peru. Growing up, he watched both of his parents pour themselves into handmade work — long hours, careful hands, and a deep pride in what they created. His mother spent her life making things by hand, filling their home with color and craft. She passed away before Inspired Peru was founded, and she never saw what the brand became. But she is one of the reasons it exists.
After moving to the United States, Carlos built a career in retail. The more he learned about how products were sold, the more he noticed something missing: the people who made things were invisible. Larger companies were telling artisan stories without the artisans. Carlos Arias founded Inspired Peru in 2011 to change that.
At the heart of the brand is his father — Enrique Arias, a named master artisan who hand-makes Inspired Peru's alpaca fur pieces today and signs the Certificate of Authenticity that ships with every order. What began as a childhood surrounded by handmade work has become a living family legacy.
Today, Inspired Peru works with 35+ indigenous Andean artisan family cooperatives in Cusco and Puno, Peru. Every piece ships from the United States with a signed Certificate of Authenticity — a traceable record of the specific person who made it.