About UpperHand Manufacturing

UpperHand Manufacturing is an unformed leather footwear uppers manufacturer based in Pastores, Guatemala, founded and operated by Peter Sacco. We produce open-bottom, cut-and-sewn leather uppers for footwear factories in the US, Canada, and the EU that need supplemental, nearshore cut & sew capacity.

Peter Sacco, Owner & CEO

Peter has over a decade of experience working in leather footwear manufacturing in Guatemala. He founded UpperHand to connect North American and European footwear factories with a reliable source of supplemental cut & sew capacity in Guatemala so they can overcome their biggest production bottleneck and take advantage of growth opportunities in domestic manufacturing.

Our Workshop

We're located in Pastores, Guatemala — one hour from Guatemala City's international airport, and a 3-hour flight from Florida or Texas. The workshop has room to grow, and so does our team. Guatemala's leatherwork tradition runs deep, and skilled sewers are available and working in footwear — not being pulled into automotive, aerospace, or apparel production the way they are in other manufacturing regions.

We're set up for the small and medium volume work that large factories don't want: from 100 pairs/week, consistent quality, professional process and communication.

What We Do

We specialize in unformed leather uppers — open-bottom, cut and sewn, ready for your lasting line. Our clients are footwear factories that want to keep their lasting operations running at full capacity, take on new accounts, or manage seasonal surges without adding headcount they can't staff.

We produce leather boot and shoe uppers across a range of constructions, leathers, and stitch types. Every upper is quality-checked before it leaves the workshop. Browse boot uppers or browse shoe uppers to see our range.

Cut & Sew vs. Full-Service

We work with clients in two ways:

• Cut & Sew: You supply the leather and components. We cut, stitch, and assemble to your spec and ship finished uppers ready for your lasting line. This is the right model if you already have material relationships and just need reliable sewing capacity.
• Full-Service: We handle material sourcing ourselves — leather, lining, hardware, and components — and deliver finished uppers to your spec. This is the right model if you want a single point of contact and are flexible on where your materials are sourced. 

Not sure which model fits your operation? Get in touch and we'll figure it out together.

Quality

Every upper is inspected before it ships. We don't outsource QC or treat it as an afterthought — it's part of the production process. If something doesn't meet spec, it doesn't go out.

Location

Workshop: Pastores, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala — one hour from Guatemala City International Airport (GUA).
Business entity: Delaware LLC