Buziga Hill is a new clothing brand that was started by Bobby Kolade a Ugandan fashion designer that is upcycling donated clothing and reselling it in the country of origin with a mission to return Uganda‘s textile industry to the peak levels of the early 1970s, when more cotton was processed than exported.
Bobby Kolade is upcycling donated clothes into new products and attempting to resell them in an effort to combat a culture of excess that he claims has infected and damaged Ugandan culture and fashion
Kolade is half-German, and could have dodged some of these challenges by setting up his company in Europe and distributing the clothes from there. “But that’s not the point. If we are dedicated to value addition in Uganda, then I want the funds to come directly to Uganda, and I want us to set up the systems.”
He is passionate about Ugandan-made products, and has set up a non-profit called Aiduke, which promotes Ugandan fashion products to the local market, with the aim of expanding into global markets.
Buziga hill has a 10-year plan to build small, specialised factories across Uganda, not only for repurposing used clothing but also for hand-woven textiles and artisanal production, and Kolade hopes to expand to neighbouring countries too.
“We have an opportunity here to start really thinking about the whole recycling, upcycling, repurposing industry, as opposed to only focusing on raw materials,” kolade explained in his interview with the guardian
“Waste has already become a commodity, but it’s going to become an even more important one. So the sooner we’re able to create industries using this waste as a commodity, the more progress we’re going to make as a region.”
RETURN TO SENDER is the first project series by BUZIGAHILL: they redesign second-hand clothes and redistribute them to the global North, where they were originally discarded before being shipped to Africa.
Beyond RETURN TO SENDER, BUZIGAHILL will collaborate on projects with visual artists, fashion designers, second-hand market vendors and artisanal workshops to add value to local supply chains and develop strong creative industries in Uganda, it is produced by a small team in Kampala: Stacy Asiimwe, Nelly Mudondo, Lilian Nabadda and Faith Katoko. Our interns are: Remmy Mwagale and Shamilah Costance.
Kolade describes Return to Sender, Buzigahill’s first collection, as genderless, playful and raw. Each of the 250 pieces is unique, made from garments that have been cut up and artfully stitched back together. Prices range from $195 (£150) for four-panel T-shirts to $530 for extended coats. Each garment has a “passport” label identifying its country of origin and source.
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