From coffee to clutch: Nespresso and Sarah’s bag turn waste into fashion in regional first

What does a used coffee capsule have in common with a designer handbag? Until recently, not much. But a new partnership between Nespresso and Lebanese fashion house Sarah’s Bag is challenging perceptions of waste, while championing a model of sustainability that is both circular and deeply human. 

Released last month, the Nespresso x Sarah’s Bag clutch is a limited-edition accessory made from recycled aluminium coffee capsules and glass bead embroidery, handcrafted by female artisans in Lebanon. The product represents a first for the region: an upcycled luxury fashion item born out of collaboration between a global corporation and a homegrown social enterprise. 

Each bag takes over 15 hours to produce and incorporates between 75 and 80 used Nespresso capsules, which are flattened by hand and sewn into the form of a stylised flower. The base material, a woven straw meant to evoke jute coffee sacks, is lined with soft cotton and completed with a brass clasp and detachable chain. The result is part statement piece, part social project.

“The collaboration between Nespresso and Sarah’s Bag is a remarkable story of two brands with the same values coming together to create a product rooted in empowerment and craftsmanship,” said Sarah Beydoun, founder and creative director of Sarah’s Bag, exclusively to The Kurator. “We are extremely proud to be a key part of Nespresso’s initiative to create second-life products, with the Nespresso x Sarah’s Bag collaboration marking the first-ever upcycled product to emerge from the Middle East.”

The idea originated from a shared interest in sustainable design and social impact. For Nespresso, whose business model has long faced scrutiny over waste and single-use products, the bag marks another step in repositioning its brand as environmentally conscious. The company’s aluminium capsules, once considered a symbol of luxury convenience, are now at the centre of its push toward circularity—the principle of giving materials a new life. 

Shirin Moayyad, Nespresso’s Coffee Storyteller based in Vevey, Switzerland, said the brand has experimented with similar upcycling projects in Europe, including Swiss-made pens and sneakers made from coffee grounds. But this is the first time such a product has been designed and produced in the Middle East. 

“Our partnership with Sarah’s Bag brings our vision into the world of fashion,” she said. “Sustainability is very important for us and is integrated into everything we do. This bag is not just beautiful - it shows that no material is waste.” 

For Sarah’s Bag, founded in 2000 following Beydoun’s fieldwork with the NGO Dar Al Amal, which supports women at risk and formerly incarcerated women, the collaboration offered another platform to showcase the artistry and resilience of its makers. 

“At Sarah's Bag, every piece tells a story - not just of craftsmanship, but of resilience and empowerment,” Beydoun said. “Transforming used Nespresso capsules into artful, hand-embroidered designs felt like a natural extension of our mission to create fashion with a purpose.” 

The capsules used in the bags are collected through Nespresso’s recycling programme in Lebanon, run in partnership with Arc en Ciel, a local NGO that specialises in environmental and social development initiatives. After collection, the aluminium is cleaned, sorted, and sent to Sarah’s Bag’s Beirut workshop, where it is reshaped and sewn into place. 

While upcycling is not new to the fashion industry, this partnership may represent a turning point in how sustainability is framed in the region - not as a Western export, but as something that can be locally produced, community-led, and regionally relevant. 

As fast fashion continues to dominate consumer markets, projects like this offer a quieter but more lasting message: that fashion can be beautiful, useful, and socially responsible - and that sometimes, the materials we overlook have the most powerful stories to tell.