---
node: fashion_sa_early_andean
type: fashion
slug: early_andean_civilizations_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Early Andean Civilizations"
lead: "In the Early Andean civilisations the textile tradition reached its first peak; the Paracas people wrapped their dead in magnificent, brightly embroidered mantles that survive after two thousand years."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: early_andean_civilizations_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Embroidered_Mantle_Fragment_MET_DP18461.jpg"
image_author: "Paracas embroidered mantle, Peru (5th–2nd c BC)"
image_license: "CC0"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (south_america region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

In this age of cultures such as Chavín and Paracas, textiles stood at the centre of religion and authority.

## Key garments and style

Using alpaca wool and cotton, the Paracas people wove rectangular mantles embroidered in coloured thread with mythological figures. People wore the tunic (unku) and a mantle, with shell and gold ornaments. Buried in the dry coast, the textiles are remarkably well preserved.

## Transition

In the age of regional states, weaving and iconography developed further under the Moche, Nazca and Wari.