Xuly Bët a universal fashion
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Lamine Kouyate, better known under the name of his label XulyBët is a fashion designer apart. Long the darling of Parisian fashion in the 90s, his creations are marked with the imprint of contemporary Africa, the flamboyant and inspirational textiles. Guest of honor at the Black FashionWeek, his many fans have seen with great joy in early October, at the opening of the Black FashionWeek, a colorful procession at Pavillon Cambon Capucine in Paris. Interview.
Introduce yourself ? Lamine Kouyate ?
XULY.Bët, “the big eye open to the world.” I have very few words to me define myself, I‘m too old issues of identity, this expression in Wolof in the text expresses a whole part of my person, I find it very meaningful, it has little equivalent in other languages. So, to introduce myself, say XULY.Bët.
You seem to have turned the corner in terms of business strategy: a website, a weekend of direct sales per month your showroom … Is this positioning is sufficient today ?
The real current strategy is to occupy the space of the Net, to the extent that sales in the workshop, we practice since we started, because it corresponds to the desire of sharing that has always driven me . These sales allow me to make sense and human vitality to my workplace as a place of appointment open to friends, relatives, fans of the brand, artists and visiting celebrities.
Do you think one day be able to create workshops and production units on the African continent ?
I’m working on. Moreover, for the moment, I am in the process of developing a Dakar. We already released a few prototypes. I‘ll talk when it’s really on track.
How do you explain that African investors to be cautious in terms of fashion, while worldwide, businessmen understand that fashion can be generating revenue ?
Long, textiles in Africa was a matter for states, it was a protected area, source of jobs, of course, but failed to meet the new challenges. Today, competition is fierce and the necessary investments are becoming heavier to access global markets. In the case of Africa, it should, in the first instance, take the regional market with average units. This can be very profitable, provided the necessary skills to gather and find financial support.
A few words about the collection presented at the opening of the 3rd edition of the Black Fashion Week ?
I am trying to trace a path that carries the vitality of modern Africa, I have implemented this brilliance found in the colors, fabrics, makeup, but also in gold that women wear on my range of grounds, including XB monogram, composition from the typographical charter XULY.Bët. It was also shown that some samples collections are currently knitted.
Is it not against-productive to organize a fashion show with exclusively of African descent so that fashion is universal creators ?
All roads do not lead to Rome, sometimes you take short cuts, because there is no real footsteps.
To count, it must occupy the land and pragmatism in developing his world, this is where the genius of Adama Paris and Black Fashion Week.
crédit portrait © OSI
By Claire Renée Mendy.
