13 Years of Paguro Upcycle: From Inner Tubes to Wearable Art

Paguro Upcycle is 13. Since 31 October 2013, this small Nottingham brand has turned industrial waste (truck inner tubes, motorbike tyres, bike chains, army tent canvas, skateboards and more) into handmade bags, jewellery and accessories, made with artisan partners in Indonesia, Kenya, Colombia and the UK. Together we've kept over 59,000 kg of waste out of landfill and incineration.

Here's how it started, who makes it happen, and the 13 pieces you've loved most.

Why "Paguro"?

Paguro is the Latin for hermit crab: nature's original upcycler, always making a home in something another creature left behind. Thirteen years ago, that felt like the right name for what I wanted to build. It still does.

From accountant to upcycler

I did not come from fashion. I trained and worked as a qualified accountant and tax advisor. It was a good career, but it was not mine. So I left it and went back to Malaysia, where I was born, looking for something with more meaning.

Growing up in Malaysia meant growing up multicultural and multilingual. Several languages, several cultures, all at one table. Living in the UK and travelling as much as I can has only deepened that. It taught me that the best way to understand a culture is through the things its people make. And across Asia, I grew up around a culture of mending, reusing and making do: nothing wasted, skilled hands turning the discarded into the valuable.

Love at first sight, on a social media post

The moment that shaped Paguro was surprisingly ordinary. I saw someone's post online of a simple bag that looked like leather but was made from tyre rubber. It was clean, considered, and completely refreshing. I had to know who made it.

I tracked the makers down to a small workshop in Indonesia and went to visit. Ayok, founder of the Sapu Upcycle artisan collective in Central Java, had started making bags, accessories and jewellery from discarded inner tubes as an environmental response. He had watched the local tyre and rubber industry burn its waste. Instead of accepting it, he turned that waste into an income for his family while raising awareness of the problem.

Ayok is hugely talented, and he wanted more than a side project. He wanted quality, contemporary products, and to prove to his community that a craft business could be run properly and with real ambition. His family are all skilled craftspeople, each with a role: sewing, hand-cutting jewellery, finishing. At their peak they were a team of fourteen.

That is where Paguro began. Thirteen years on, we still work together every day. Meet Sapu Upcycle.

Not a supplier. Not a charity. A design partnership.

People often assume Paguro imports and resells. It has never been that. We design together, adapting traditional craft into pieces that suit modern living and the wider market, so they compete on design, not just on their eco story. I want people to be proud to wear them: jewellery as wearable art, bags that last.

The partnership goes beyond design. Over the years I have shared basic pricing and financial management for their local market. When times are hard, I bridge with interest-free loans and instalments. I still prepay for equipment and workshop repairs. None of this is required: our partners are independent, profit-making businesses who set their own prices. That is exactly the point. It is a win-win, not a handout.

Through Ayok's introductions, we now work with other Indonesian makers including Alive and Loosewood, as well as artisan communities in Kenya, Colombia and the UK. Meet all our makers.

Thirteen years of resilience

We have done all of this as a micro-business of one or two people, with no outside investment. COVID wiped out the tourism trade many craftspeople relied on. Some makers I worked with in Malaysia and Thailand did not survive it. Our Indonesian partners did, and they have been steadily rebuilding their teams since. Inflation came next. Each time we adjusted, learned and kept going.

Our materials have grown too. Truck inner tubes, still plentiful across South East Asia and South America, remain our leather alternative; the leather-like pattern comes from the tube's original tread, never stamped. Alongside them: motorbike tyres, reclaimed military canvas, bicycle chains, skateboard decks, reclaimed wood from furniture factory offcuts, and now brass and totumo. Explore our materials.

Our story so far

• 2013: Paguro Upcycle opens on 31 October, working with Sapu Upcycle in Indonesia.
• 2020: Shortlisted for Disruptor of the Year in the Midlands, in the same year COVID tested every maker we work with.
• 2021: Shortlisted for a national business award.
• 2023: Ten years of Paguro.
• 2024: Trading at Glastonbury Festival.
• 2026: Thirteen years, and over 59,000 kg of industrial waste kept out of landfill and incineration.

13 years, 13 favourites

Buy less, choose well, and keep it for years: that's how we've always thought about things. These are the pieces you've come back to most, one for every year.

1. Star Inner Tube Necklace (£40): our best-seller, hand-cut from truck inner tube. See how it's made.
2. Recycled Bike Chain Bracelet (£22): unisex and made from real bike chain.
3. Motorbike Tyre Belt (£40): tread patterns hand-cut by our artisans.
4. Flame Statement Necklace (£40): bold, light and one of a kind.
5. Ben Recycled Wallet (£42): with a coin compartment and coloured stitching.
6. Bike Chain Cufflinks (£30): the groomsmen and cyclist favourite.
7. Ocean Recycled Wood Necklace (£34): reclaimed wood with a gold-tone finish.
8. Skateboard Bottle Opener Keyring (£12): made from broken skateboard decks.
9. Flamenco Electrical Wire Earrings (£24): five bright colours from reclaimed wire.
10. Japanese Pattern Teak Coasters (from £9): reclaimed teak with traditional patterns.
11. Jen Crossbody Bag (£95): inner tube rubber with contrast stitching, in six colours.
12. Nomad Voyager Messenger Bag (£155): our most-viewed bag, in inner tube and army canvas.
13. Wimbi Recycled Brass Choker (£72): the newest addition, handmade in Kenya from old brass taps.

What thirteen means to me

Thirteen years is not a story of one founder. It is a story of makers who refused to give up, and customers who chose something with a story behind it. Thank you for carrying our pieces, for sharing them, and for believing that beautiful things can be made from what the world throws away.

Here's to the next chapter.

Yen Goo, Founder, Paguro Upcycle

About Paguro Upcycle

What is Paguro Upcycle?

An independent Nottingham brand, founded in 2013, making bags, jewellery and accessories from industrial waste with artisan partners in Indonesia, Kenya, Colombia and the UK.

What are Paguro products made from?

Mainly reclaimed truck inner tubes, plus motorbike tyres, army tent canvas, bike chains, skateboards, reclaimed wood, electrical wire, brass and totumo.

Are Paguro products vegan?

We use only vegan-friendly materials in our making process and work on fair trade principles. As the materials are reclaimed, we can't guarantee how they were originally manufactured. A small number of recycled brass pieces include horn, and these are kept out of our vegan collections.

Who makes Paguro products?

Independent artisan partners, including Sapu Upcycle, Alive and Loosewood in Indonesia, alongside makers in Kenya, Colombia and the UK. Meet them here.