HOW IT HAPPENED

BRAND STORY

Up-fuse is a fully-fledged Cairo-based cult brand and social enterprise created in celebration of You and this beautiful planet — Earth.

In 2013 Up-fuse started with Yara and Rania’s passion for material exploration and a need to reuse the disposed plastic and other waste in Egypt. The duo realized the capacity to go beyond making an environmental impact and the idea of designing and producing a local product that revolutionizes the Egyptian handcrafts became very appealing.

In 2015, Lama joined as a partner. The three girls changed that abstract idea and it manifested into an environmentally and socially conscious brand which applies a slow-fashion model, reducing waste through ethical production and supporting local artisans and women who endure harsh conditions.

Now in 2021, we’ve expanded our up-cycling process and product range, adding plastic bottles and tires to create new and interesting fashion pieces and footwear.

THE MATERIALS

Our materials are sustainable, unique and we LOVE it!

plastic bag

Plastic Bags

After the plastic bag’s material is
collected, it undergoes a 3-step
sanitization process using
specific detergents and a special
washing machine adopted by upfuse
especially for this purpose.
The materials are then hung to dry in
Egypt’s bacteria-killing sun as a further
precautionary and environmentally
respectful step.

With the help of our keen, artisan
ladies at Roh Al Shabab NGO, the raw
materials are processed into our
upfuse fabric sheets by compression
through yet another machinery
refined by our brand.

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Plastic Bottles

And now, plastic bottles have joined
the club!

We now use cloth made from PET
bottles! The cloth is made from 100%
recycled polyester, giving a second life
to plastic bottles that would have
ended up as garbage either in landfills
or waters.

Plastic bottles are collected, cleaned
and shredded. Through a unique, long
process, they end up being white cloth
that can be tailored into many fashion
options which respect the
environment we live in and support
people who have precious talents in
our country.

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Tires

Why leave tires end up in landfills
when they can fit perfectly under your
feet, making you feel comfortable and
making the Earth feel better?!
Less materials created, more reused
and repurposed. We use tires as the
footsole, without any further
processing – just cutting and fitting,
leaving zero carbon footprint.
Workshops in Shobra are our main
provider and work hard to offer this
unique material.

That’s why Nothing is ever wasted
with Up-fuse

Ecosystems We Support

MANSHIYAT NASSER LANDFILL

Known as Cairo Garbage City and is the world’s largest garbage village that
is home to over 60,000 Zaballeen – garbage-collectors. They are
entrepreneurial garbage workers who have achieved the most efficient
waste disposal system worldwide, recycling over 80% of their daily
collected garbage which accounts to 3000 – 4000 tons daily, while
developed cities and multinational waste disposal corporations recycle only
20 – 30 percent of what they collect, leaving the rest to rot in giant landfills.

Carbon emissions

Up-fuse is proud to be taking part in reducing co2 emissions. By recycling plastic bags, we prevent them from getting dumped in a landfill or even burned along with other trash.Up-fuse’s entire Co2 emission is 53,649g per week.

Water usage

During our production, we must use water to clean the plastic bags before transforming them into Up-fuse products. This process consumes approximately 1.4 liter/ bag

As we are trying to become the most sustainable, we are now developing a new cleaning technique that reduces the amount of water used. This technique aims to use the water as a final process, instead of making it the main source of cleansing.

Chemicals

It’s important to note that Up-fuse does not use any harmful chemicals inside their productions.

Fabrics waste

Our brands slogan is “nothing is ever wasted” and we stand by it. Every piece of plastic is used in production, we do not throw away any piece of fabric.

Packaging

We are careful about the sustainability of our packaging as well, so we’ve decided to we use 100% recyclable paper bags to pack our products.


SHOBRA-BASED WORKSHOPS

Shobra is one of the oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods in Egypt. It
embraces all people within it. We found a gem inside one of Shobra based
workshops! They’re able to transform the bulky tire we exhaust every day in
our commuting to a sustainable material that we repurpose.

HOW IT HAPPENS

MEET OUR TEAM

These are the people we cherish,
The ones who made our dream a possibility.

WHO THEY ARE,
WHAT THEY DO!

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  • FOUNDERS

    Yara, Rania and partner Lama are the brand’s driving force. Their vision, passion, determination, entrepreneurial minds and design skills gave birth to this world of Upfuse and their efforts sustain the brand’s growth. Whether it’s designing, overlooking production, managing the brand and its collaborations with the NGOs or catering for the needs of their teams, they do it whole-heartedly!

  • Yara Yassin

    CO-FOUNDER & MARKETING DIRECTOR

    Yara has enough passion, energy and ideas for multiple entrepreneurs! Ever since she enrolled in the International Organization for Migration to empower women through product design, she has found her passion for sustainability. Yara is always eager to get things done and is always making sure things are running as they should. She is THE person we go to whenever we need to turn ideas into actions – always ready with creative plans for any abstract thought we might have.

  • Lama El Khawanky

    PARTNER & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

    Lama is responsible for all the magic happening in our studio. She’s the face behind our production process; from designing to prototyping, and finally bringing our creations to life. She is one of the most determined people you’ll meet. She knows exactly what she wants and won’t spend time beating around the bush. Whenever we need an honest take on any idea or suggestion, Lama is the one we look for.

  • Rania Rafie

    CO-FOUNDER

    Rania has been and will always been the support system behind up-fuse. She started the business in 2015 and witnessed its growth till she decided to go on other breathtaking
    ventures in 2020.

  • Production

    During this process, our worker risk getting injured by the sewing machine or by an electricity accident. We are well aware of these risks, so we carry an emergency kit and we have emergency exits in case of any accident.

    It’s important to note that the company does not perform sub-contractions

  • Communication

    We support students that want to gain experiences early on their Educational years. We care about our community and we make sure That they are comfortable in their journey. To apply such environment, we set A meeting every 3 months to listen and talk to our employees:
    these meetings Consist of having confidential feedbacks.
    Its important to note that the company does not perform subcontactions.
    We believe that The dynamics that we establish make us reach our full potential

  • You Up-fusers

    The piece that adds it all up, YOU, the Up-fusers!

how can you help us

Our Achievements & Pride

  • 3

    NGOs Supported

  • 50+

    Job Opportunities

  • 1M

    Plastic Bags Recycled

AWARDS