About us · Carry on UF
Carry onthe story.
We make bags from old kilim rugs. Here you can read how it started and how we work.
01Sustainability
The best fabric already exists.
Sustainability is not something we added afterwards. It is the whole idea behind Carry on. Instead of making new fabric, we use rugs that already exist and would otherwise sit unused or be thrown away.
We are not perfect
Handles, zips and lining are new materials, and we keep looking for better options. But the bag itself, which is the biggest part, is reused.
Reuse instead of new
Every bag is made from a rug that has already been produced. We do not buy any new fabric for the bag itself.
Less water and chemicals
Making new fabric takes a lot of water, energy and dye. When the material already exists, that step is skipped completely.
Made to last
Kilim rugs are woven to be walked on for years. That makes the fabric tough, so the bag can be used for a long time.
No big stock
We never make more bags than we have rugs for, so there are no piles of unsold products.
Why it matters
92million tonnes
of textile waste is created in the world every year.
<1%recycled
of the material in clothes is turned into new clothes. The rest is burned, landfilled or downcycled.
15.2kilos per person
of new textiles were bought in Sweden in 2025, 12 percent more than the year before.
93billion m³ of water
is used by the fashion industry every year.
In Sweden, about 7 to 9 kilos of textiles per person used to end up in household waste every year. Every bag we sew keeps a rug out of that pile.
Where the impact happens
Most of the damage is done before anyone uses it.
About 80 percent of a textile's total climate impact happens when it is produced. Washing, using and transporting it is a much smaller part. So the best thing we can do is skip making new fabric, and the best thing you can do is use what you have for a long time.
A textile's climate impact
This is where we make a difference: the fabric for the bag already exists.
Make it last
How long will you keep your bag?
If you double how long you use a textile, its climate impact drops by almost half. Drag the slider and watch the footprint per year shrink.
Simplified illustration, based on most of the climate impact coming from production.
The Global Goals
Three of the UN goals our bags contribute to
Goal 12. Responsible consumption and production
We reuse material that already exists instead of producing new fabric, which means less textile waste. This links to target 12.5 on reducing waste.
Goal 13. Climate action
Making new textiles causes large emissions. When we skip that step, the climate footprint of the bag itself gets smaller.
Goal 6. Clean water and sanitation
Growing cotton and dyeing fabric uses a lot of water and chemicals. A reused rug needs none of that.
Sources: Global Fashion Agenda & BCG, Pulse of the Fashion Industry (2017) · Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy (2017) · Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2026) · UNCTAD (2019)
02The idea
How the idea started
The idea for CARRY ON UF came when we started looking at what happens to old kilim rugs that are no longer used. What struck us was that many of them still have great colours, patterns and plenty of material left, even though they are done being rugs.
So we started thinking about whether they could be used for something completely different. After looking into a few options, we decided that bags were a good way to give the material a new life. That was the start of CARRY ON UF.
03The name
What does Carry on mean?
CARRY ON is about letting something continue. Our rugs have already had a life and a purpose, but instead of being thrown away they get to carry on as something new.
That is also where our slogan ”Carry on the story” comes from. We want to take something that already exists and turn it into a product that can be used again, instead of starting from brand new materials.
04The making
How we make our bags
01Choosing and cutting
The first step is choosing rugs that suit our products. We look at things like colours, patterns and the quality of the material. Once a rug is chosen, it is cut into the pieces needed to make the bag.
02Sewing
Then the pieces are sewn together and the bag starts to take shape. Handles, zips, lining and other details are added to make the bag practical and durable. We work carefully, because the material can differ from rug to rug.
03Finished bag
When the bag is done, an old kilim has found a whole new use. From a rug nobody used to a weekend bag that can come along on new trips.
05The team
Three students, one idea.
We run Carry on as a student company next to school. Everything from finding rugs to packing orders, we do ourselves.
Niels
Head of Finance
Leonard
CEO
Henrik
Head of Communications
Want to see the bags?
All weekend bags are in the shop, and the laptop sleeves are on their way. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.