One of the true highlights of this season’s Berlin Fashion Week was the Buzigahill show, where the brand presented the 11th collection of its ongoing project, Return to Sender.
The concept behind Buzigahill is as circular as it is compelling—perfectly formed in both message and execution.
TOP
Runway Photography – Andreas Hofrichter
LEFT
Backstage Photography – Max Stürmer
Bobby Kolade, the visionary behind the brand, is no stranger to Berlin Fashion Week. Though Buzigahill just made its debut here, Kolade’s earlier label graced the stage a decade ago with much acclaim, also having been featured on Œ countless times.
After closing that chapter, Kolade returned to Kampala, Uganda—a place where he had spent part of his youth. Kolade’s background is strikingly international: born in Sudan to Nigerian-German parents, raised between Nigeria and Uganda, educated in Berlin at the renowned Weissensee Art Academy, and professionally shaped in Paris.
With Buzigahill, he’s created a label grounded in purpose. The ongoing collection project, titled Return to Sender, is a bold artistic and systemic critique of the global second-hand clothing trade. Each piece is crafted from second-hand garments sourced at Owino Market—Uganda’s largest market for used clothing, which is flooded with donations from Europe, North America, and Asia.
In his Kampala studio, these garments are transformed into striking new silhouettes through deconstruction and reassembly. Some are further embellished with traditional embroidery made by the Milaya Project—a collective of 46 South Sudanese women artisans based in the Bidi Bidi refugee camp. The finished garments are then “returned to sender”—sold through Kolade’s online store to customers in the very regions that donated them in the first place.
Kolade is more than a designer; he’s a tireless activist, working to challenge and reform a global fashion system that continues to exploit structurally disadvantaged communities. His voice also resonates in the podcast series Vintage or Violence, which I highly recommend—despite being over a year old, its themes remain urgently relevant.
RIGHT
Bobby Kolade backstage short before the show
Photography – Max Stürmer
