XULY.Bët. Funkin’ Fashion Factory 100% Recycled Exhibition

The story of Lamine Badian Kouyaté (b. 1962 in Bamako, Mali) and his label XULY.Bët, founded in 1991 in Paris, is a story of resistance, vision, and love for fashion. It is shaped by migration, diversity, and a radical idea of sustainability, long before this word became a trend. Growing up in Bamako, Kouyaté was moulded at an early age by the hands of his grandmother, who processed fabrics and gave them a second chance. For him, this was not a fad but a way of life. When he came to Paris in the 1990s, he brought precisely this perspective with him: clothing as a memory, resource, and tool – at a time when environmental awareness was barely an issue in the European fashion industry. Upcycling became an artistic practice for Kouyaté. His fashion moves between streetwear and couture, between everyday life and the runway, worn by stars such as Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Halle Berry, and Viola Davis, and celebrated in international exhibitions. Kouyaté revolutionised the Parisian fashion scene with streetwear as high fashion, upcycling, and guerrilla fashion shows. Director Robert Altman paid tribute to him in the 1994 film Prêt-à-Porter, in which he was portrayed by Forest Whitaker.