Behind every Up-Fuse piece, there are hands that spent years learning how to transform waste.

Up-Fuse is an Egyptian artisan fashion brand built on a simple belief: the people who make something are as important as the material it's made from.

Our story of handmade in Egypt clothing and accessories didn't start in a design studio — it started in Manshiyet Nasser, with four women and a clothes iron.

It Started With Four Women and a Clothes Iron

Up-Fuse's relationship with Manshiyet Nasser began almost by chance.
We were looking for women we could teach our plastic upcycling technique to, and a friend suggested we visit the area.

At the time, we knew very little about the district or the community that would eventually become the heart of our production.

We walked through Manshiyet Nasser to meet one of the co-founders of Roh El Shabab, a local NGO operating there at the time. That introduction led us to our first group of four women.

And the first production tool? Something almost everyone has at home: a regular clothes iron.

Learning the Material Together

We began by teaching those first four women how to heat-press discarded plastic bags into sheets. As the orders grew, so did the technique.

The clothes iron was replaced by a heat press. We kept experimenting with the material, improving the process and learning what made the sheets stronger and more consistent.

Eventually, the process evolved into the customized machines Up-Fuse uses today.
The technique changed over the years, but the human knowledge behind it grew with it.

Today, around 20 women work with Up-Fuse regularly, bringing years of practical knowledge to a material that still behaves a little differently every time it meets heat.

That is what handmade in Egypt clothing really means to us: not a label, but knowledge built through repetition, experimentation and years of working with the same material.

Meet Samah: One of the Pillars of Up-Fuse

If there is one person who represents how deeply our production team is woven into Up-Fuse, it is Samah.

Samah joined us in 2016 and today manages production. Over the years, she has become a strong pillar of the brand. Her knowledge of the process is important — but so is the energy she brings to it. Her passion fuels the people around her and has helped shape the production culture we have today.

For us, craftsmanship is not only about the hands that make something. It is knowledge built through repetition, experimentation and years of working with a material.

From Upcycled Sheet to High-End Bag

Once the women in Manshiyet Nasser finish the sheets and they pass quality control, the material moves to our in-house bag-making workshop.

That side of production is led by Waleed, Up-Fuse's Bag-Making Production Manager. Waleed and members of our bag-making team have worked with Up-Fuse since around 2016.

Over those years, they have learned the tips, tricks and technical details required to transform an unconventional material into a durable, high-quality handbag.

Upcycled plastic cannot simply be treated like ordinary fabric. How it is cut, handled, assembled and finished matters. Much of that knowledge now lives within the team because they have spent years solving those challenges piece by piece.

The result is what makes our backpack collection and sustainable bags stand out — every piece carries years of accumulated know-how.

Our Community of Makers Goes Beyond One Workshop

Up-Fuse has never believed that every craft or technique needs to happen under one roof. Depending on the collection, we collaborate with different NGOs, communities and specialist makers whose skills can bring something new to the material.

• El Nour Wal Amal — woven plastic bags created with visually impaired women
• Nil & Forat — collaborations supporting refugee and migrant women
• APE — a woven beach bag combining Up-Fuse's upcycled plastic material with the skills of artisans from the community

These collaborations allow each project to have its own character while creating opportunities for more makers and communities to participate in circular production. Learn more about the people and places behind our process on The Brand page.

Work That Can Fit Around Life

The way something is made matters to us — and that includes how work fits into the lives of the people making it.

Where the production process allows, the women we collaborate with have flexibility to organize their own schedules and work from home.

The aim is to create work that can adapt to different responsibilities rather than requiring every artisan to fit into one rigid production model.

We want our partnerships to create opportunities in communities that have traditionally had less access to them, while recognizing the women first for what they are: skilled makers and production partners.

They Are Part of the Brand

The artisans we work with are not separate from the Up-Fuse story. They are part of the brand.

Over the years, they have watched pieces they helped make leave Cairo and travel far beyond the workshop. Their work has been carried, photographed, exhibited and talked about in different parts of the world.

There is pride in knowing that the skills developed here are being seen elsewhere. And there is pride on our side too.