A man wearing a purple Explore Peru long sleeve in front of the Ausangate mountain

Basecamp

Explore Peru Collection + Travel Giveaway

We made three unique graphic tees to celebrate Ausangate, Machu Picchu, and Rainbow Mountain. Each tee purchased enters you in a giveaway to visit those three destinations.

Peru is steeped in rich history and culture. Its remarkable landscapes and geological wonders have changed our lives. This year, we wanted to include you on the journey. We created this Explore Peru collection alongside local Peruvian artist, Neil Gayoso, to honor three locations in Peru. As you'll see on each design, Neil’s artistic creations embrace the spirit and wonder of each place.

Additionally, we’ve partnered with our friends from Visit South America, Exploor Peru, and World Textile Sourcing (WTS) to give even more meaning to this collection. For each shirt purchased, you'll be entered into a travel giveaway to visit Rainbow Mountain, Ausangate, and Machu Picchu. We hope through this initiative, we can encourage exploration of the beautiful country that's become our home.

Ausangate snow capped mountain with mineral blue lake and rainbow mountain

Ausangate snow capped mountain with a mineral blue lake

Peruvian artist Neil Gayoso standing behind red motorcycle in black tee shirt

Meet the artist

Neil Gayoso is a multimedia artist living in Lima, Peru. We became admirers of his work before ever meeting in person. It quickly became clear that our values were in alignment, which initiated our new collaboration.

“The energy of Paka was so pure,” Neil recalls his first encounter with our founder Kris Cody. “I was surprised to see what Paka was doing here in Lima. Their work was really beneficial to the well-being of the Peruvian people. It shows the culture, the place, and the connection to the people.” Neil has built his career as an artist by only taking on projects that he connects with: “My work is full-time, so need to choose projects and collaborations wisely.” He was drawn to work with Paka because of our mission. But he was also inspired to collaborate on this specific project because of the places we planned to feature.

Couple standing in Paka shirts overlooking Machu Picchu

Our Explore Peru Long sleeves: Ausangate, Rainbow Mountain and Machu Picchu

The three tees feature Ausangate, Rainbow Mountain, and Machu Picchu made with a natural blend of Organic Pima Cotton and Royal Alpaca and earth-friendly dyes. The colors represent a specific aspect of each place, while the art embodies both the places' meaning to the local people, and the sensation of visiting.

“This was the first project [I’ve worked on] that involved a place. I needed to translate, with a single graphic, the essence of the place, with a lot of respect for the location and what it means to the community,” said Neil.

Neil wanted the art to allow you to connect without having to travel to Peru. His impressions and feelings were emulated through playful and whimsical colors in the Rainbow Mountain tee, strength in simplicity for Ausangate, and an air of mystery in Machu Picchu.

Ausangate mountain with man jumping in purple shirt. Ausangate Mountain with a river coming from a mineral blue lake. The Explore Peru label on one of our purple shirts in front of Ausangate mountain

Ausangate

Ausangate is the father of all mountains. For the Inca, he is a spirit that protects the people and surrounding mountain ranges. All of the glacier that melts out of Ausangate feeds Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and even parts of the Amazon river. For that, Ausangate is known as the creator of water. His spirit remains very much alive nowadays - the local Quechua deeply honor and respect Apu Ausangate, making offerings (k’intus) to ensure his protection.

This design was originally inspired on a hike in Ausangate, where our founder Kris found a deep purple rock that became the color of the shirt. We worked endlessly to mimic it with earth-friendly dyes. From there, Neil took the power of the Apus (mountain spirits) with a golden sunset and juxtaposed the white, snowy mountain outline you see on the back.

“When I do clothing design, I choose the color of the garment, and then I design for that canvas,” says Neil. Commercially, it isn’t normally done this way, but the creative direction behind Neil's work requires that the graphics must be perfectly fused with the base color of the shirt. When it came to actually creating the graphic and conveying the feeling of standing at the base of Ausangate, Neil took the approach of simplicity: “I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, to encapsulate the breathless feeling of awe you would feel looking up at it from its base.” It was important for Neil to capture a reverence for the mountain because it is a place for respect and has been for thousands of years.

Three rainbow mountain images with bright colors. The Rainbow mountain covered in snow. The Explore Peru label on one of our timber shirts in front of Rainbow mountain

Rainbow Mountain

“It can be said that Rainbow Mountain actually existed before the Andes. At one point, these colors were flat and horizontal, each layer representing its own moment in Earth’s history with a unique mineral composition. Imagine a cake with layers. When the tectonic plates began to collide 45+ million years ago - a process called subduction - the Andes were formed, pushing these geological plates up into the wavy mountain formation you see today. These distinct hues come from goethite, hematite, oxidized iron, copper, and even sulfur. There still remains a lot of investigation to understand this masterpiece.”

The Rainbow Mountain tee was inspired by the natural art of the landscape. A geological mystery yet to be fully uncovered, Rainbow Mountain, features a thrilling array of colors, and has become wildly popular over the past several years. While designing the Rainbow Mountain tee, Neil emphasized the wild color palette: “I took a more fun, playful approach to make a graphic,” said Neil. “The idea is that nature is a huge artist, so the colors of the mountain kind of melt like they were painted.” Neil further played with this concept of the grand artist by drawing small travelers to show the massive scale of Pachamama’s (Mother Earth’s) artwork.

Machu Picchu

“Machu Picchu, known as the “Lost City of the Inca,” sits on top of a mountain 8,000+ feet in a tropical forest with endemic biodiversity. The city was discovered in 1911, and historians believe it was built at the height of the Inca Empire mid-15th century. While many entertain extraterrestrial involvement in Machu Picchu’s construction, historians believe it was done by thousands of humans. The common Inca people built Machu Picchu out of passion and honor for their empire. It’s a symbol of human potential, showcasing a perfect balance between technology and nature.”

The Machu Picchu tee was inspired by one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Neil’s design captures the serenity of Machu Picchu with soft hues: “With this one, I leaned into the peaceful and dreamy colors,” says Neil. He described how he wanted this tee to embrace the experience of the traveler, standing there in silence, and seeing this place for the first time.

Along the sleeve, Neil’s art pays tribute to the Trilogy of the Andes and the Inca people. A snake, puma, and condor represent the space beneath us, around us, and above us. For Neil, this element of the tee represents the connection the Inca people had to the natural world.

The giveaway

We hope each of these long sleeve graphic tees helps transport you to the locations through Neil’s craft as an artist. On top of this, we are also excited to further the connection to these places by offering an unforgettable experience. Each piece purchased from this Explore Peru collection enters you in a giveaway to visit all three remarkable locations in person. Through this giveaway, you’ll have the chance to visit Peru and all three special locations with a companion of your choice.