Overview
The man’s unku is a sleeveless tunic woven in one piece with a neck slit, worn belted over a loincloth, its geometric tocapu designs signalling status; the finest, the qumpi, were reserved for the Inca and his gifts. Women wore the aksu, a long cloth wrapped round the body and pinned with metal tupu pins, over which a lliclla mantle was draped.
How it is worn
The tunic is pulled over the head and belted; the woman’s wrap is folded around the body and pinned at both shoulders, held by a wide woven sash, with the mantle fastened at the chest by a tupu. Sandals (ushuta) and, for men, a headband completed the dress, its cloth the empire’s most valued gift and tribute.
History
Under the Inca, cloth was the supreme measure of wealth, woven by dedicated weavers and stored in vast quantities, and dress was strictly regulated by rank and region. Spanish conquest overlaid European clothing, but the Andean tunic, wrapped dress, and mantle survived in the highlands as living traditions.