We are a Kampala-based clothing brand that works between art, fashion and activism. For our first project series called RETURN TO SENDER, we redesign second-hand clothes and redistribute them to the Global North, where they were originally discarded before being shipped to Uganda.
BUZIGAHILL is named after a neighbourhood in Kampala in which Bobby Kolade and a group of friends from the visual arts, music and film scene lived during the inception stage. It is a special part of the city, with lake views, mature vegetation and architectural memories of a bygone era.
Beyond RETURN TO SENDER, BUZIGAHILL collaborates with visual artists, fashion designers, second-hand market vendors and artisanal workshops in Uganda to add value to local supply chains and develop strong creative industries.
The once prosperous Ugandan textile industry has suffered significantly since the 1970s and has not recovered from the shocks of market liberalisation and globalisation to be able to create jobs, textiles and clothing for the current population of 47 million. Cotton remains Uganda's third most important cash crop. However, 95% of all harvested fibre is exported for further processing, thereby missing out on opportunities for value-add jobs. Local fashion has quickly been replaced by imports of second-hand clothes and cheap, synthetic knock-offs from the Global North, which together are the leading source of all textile goods in the country: It is estimated that 80% of all clothing purchases in Uganda are second-hand.
There are only two remaining textile mills in the country which process locally grown cotton to produce fabrics. They do not have the capacity to clothe 47 million Ugandans – and certainly do not produce fabrics diverse enough to be used by contemporary Ugandan fashion designers. As a result, designers either work with textiles imported from Turkey and China, or use materials upcycled from second-hand clothes. Locally produced garments cannot compete against the low prices and diversity that second-hand clothing offers – these remain a threat to local economies and the environment.
BUZIGAHILL and RETURN TO SENDER are a direct response to the impacts of second-hand clothing on Uganda’s textile industry, and are part of a national textile and clothing movement.
At collection hubs in the Global North, second-hand clothes are pressed into large bundles called bales and shipped to the Global South in containers. Bales are imported by second-hand clothing businesses in Uganda and distributed to market vendors and boutique owners.
RETURN TO SENDER is produced with care and patience by our team of young, women-only tailors at our studio in Kampala. We source bales of second-hand garments from clothing importers and individual garments from vendors at Owino Market, one of the biggest second-hand clothing hubs in the world.
Each piece is cleaned and carefully studied. It then undergoes a transformational production process in the hands of our tailors. As a team, we have developed production processes to refine the upcycling and redesigning of second-hand garments.
We build on each garment’s original heritage and enrich them with a new design identity. Each piece is one of a kind and branded with an individual passport label which indicates origin, composition, production period and unique passport number.
There’s only one.
Kolade was born in Sudan to Nigerian-German parents and grew up between Kampala and Lagos. He holds a masters in Fashion Design from the Academy of Arts Berlin Weissensee and has professional experience at Maison Margiela and Balenciaga in Paris.
As co-host of the Ugandan podcast Vintage or Violence, he is actively asking questions about the country’s textile past and the impact that fast fashion and the second-hand clothing supply chain has on the local environment.
Bobby Kolade is a passionate gardener.
Awards
- Start Your Fashion Business Award, Berlin 2013 – Winner
- Shenzhen Day Prize by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, 2013 – New Star Award
- Woolmark Prize, Antwerp 2015, Finalist
We are a Kampala-based clothing brand that works between art, fashion and activism. For our first project series called RETURN TO SENDER, we redesign second-hand clothes and redistribute them to the Global North, where they were originally discarded before being shipped to Uganda.
BUZIGAHILL is named after a neighbourhood in Kampala in which Bobby Kolade and a group of friends from the visual arts, music and film scene lived during the inception stage. It is a special part of the city, with lake views, mature vegetation and architectural memories of a bygone era.
Beyond RETURN TO SENDER, BUZIGAHILL collaborates with visual artists, fashion designers, second-hand market vendors and artisanal workshops in Uganda to add value to local supply chains and develop strong creative industries.
The once prosperous Ugandan textile industry has suffered significantly since the 1970s and has not recovered from the shocks of market liberalisation and globalisation to be able to create jobs, textiles and clothing for the current population of 47 million. Cotton remains Uganda's third most important cash crop. However, 95% of all harvested fibre is exported for further processing, thereby missing out on opportunities for value-add jobs. Local fashion has quickly been replaced by imports of second-hand clothes and cheap, synthetic knock-offs from the Global North, which together are the leading source of all textile goods in the country: It is estimated that 80% of all clothing purchases in Uganda are second-hand.
There are only two remaining textile mills in the country which process locally grown cotton to produce fabrics. They do not have the capacity to clothe 47 million Ugandans – and certainly do not produce fabrics diverse enough to be used by contemporary Ugandan fashion designers. As a result, designers either work with textiles imported from Turkey and China, or use materials upcycled from second-hand clothes. Locally produced garments cannot compete against the low prices and diversity that second-hand clothing offers – these remain a threat to local economies and the environment.
BUZIGAHILL and RETURN TO SENDER are a direct response to the impacts of second-hand clothing on Uganda’s textile industry, and are part of a national textile and clothing movement.
At collection hubs in the Global North, second-hand clothes are pressed into large bundles called bales and shipped to the Global South in containers. Bales are imported by second-hand clothing businesses in Uganda and distributed to market vendors and boutique owners.
RETURN TO SENDER is produced with care and patience by our team of young, women-only tailors at our studio in Kampala. We source bales of second-hand garments from clothing importers and individual garments from vendors at Owino Market, one of the biggest second-hand clothing hubs in the world.
Each piece is cleaned and carefully studied. It then undergoes a transformational production process in the hands of our tailors. As a team, we have developed production processes to refine the upcycling and redesigning of second-hand garments.
We build on each garment’s original heritage and enrich them with a new design identity. Each piece is one of a kind and branded with an individual passport label which indicates origin, composition, production period and unique passport number.
There’s only one.
Kolade was born in Sudan to Nigerian-German parents and grew up between Kampala and Lagos. He holds a masters in Fashion Design from the Academy of Arts Berlin Weissensee and has professional experience at Maison Margiela and Balenciaga in Paris.
As co-host of the Ugandan podcast Vintage or Violence, he is actively asking questions about the country’s textile past and the impact that fast fashion and the second-hand clothing supply chain has on the local environment.
Bobby Kolade is a passionate gardener.
Awards
- Start Your Fashion Business Award, Berlin 2013 – Winner
- Shenzhen Day Prize by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, 2013 – New Star Award
- Woolmark Prize, Antwerp 2015, Finalist