Paguro Upcycle
Named After the Hermit Crab, Which Has Been Moving Into Other People's Cast-Offs for Rather Longer Than Any of Us.
Paguro Upcycle takes its name from the hermit crab, nature's original upcycler, and has spent more than twelve years doing much the same thing with industrial waste. The Nottingham-based brand began when its founder, a former chartered accountant, came across artisans in South East Asia turning discarded rubber and fabric into genuinely good bags. It was, one imagines, a more interesting afternoon than most spent in accountancy.
The materials read like the contents of a very well-organised skip. Truck, motorbike and bicycle inner tubes become bags, wallets and purses, cleaned, hand-cut and sewn so that each carries its own marks and creases, and no two are quite the same. Decommissioned army tents become sturdy carryalls. Bike chains become bracelets and cufflinks, and reclaimed brass becomes bold, sculptural jewellery. Inner tube rubber is hard-wearing, water resistant and has a soft, leather-like feel, which makes it a rather convincing vegan alternative.
Everything is handmade by small-scale artisans and social enterprises across Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the UK, and the whole range is PETA-approved vegan. Part of the profits also goes to causes including Plastic Oceans and CARE International UK. So you get a very good bag, and a slightly clearer conscience to carry in it.
See more in our upcycled and vintage edit, or browse all bags, men's bags and wallets and jewellery. Paguro also sits among our British brands and giving back brands, and a bike chain bracelet makes an excellent present from our gifts for him.
