Return to Sender
Every day, thrift stores and collection bins in the Global North collect millions of unwanted garments. According to an Oxfam report, more than 70 per cent of these end up in Africa. Some items are sold at local markets, while the rest end up in overflowing landfills. The abundance of cheap second-hand clothing has caused domestic demand for Ugandan cotton to fall by 95 per cent. Furthermore, the country barely has a clothing industry anymore, with 80 per cent of clothing purchases consisting of second-hand items. Consequently, countries like Uganda are at the bottom of the global clothing chain.
Buzigahill’s Return to Sender business model presents an exclusive fashion collection made from second-hand clothing dumped in Africa by wealthy Northern countries. This enables Buzigahill to strengthen new skills, employment and local entrepreneurship, and to help Uganda develop its own clothing industry. Fashion is used as a means of achieving cultural and economic autonomy.
