Rafael Kouto - Fashion Design Upcycling Innovator
Rafael Kouto is shaking things up in the fashion design industry. Founded in 2017, the brand RAFAEL KOUTO has a unique sustainable approach to fashion design and products. The main core is the customization and upcycling of an individual curated selection of old textiles and garments from Texaid for the realisation of the couture and commercial collection, 100 % remade in Switzerland. The potential of the sustainable design and local production is giving a new value to the discarded materials as the main resource. The cultural background and business model is based on Kouto‘s own cultural origins mixed with the practice of upcycling, which is very common in Africa. The concept and the hybrid aesthetic, between Africa and the West are distinctive characteristics. It represents an alternative to the current production in fashion as a new luxury paradigm with the aim is to encourage recycling, upcycling, in the production of fashion.
At the beginning of a new collection, Kouto submits a list of his favorite pieces, materials and colors. From the pre-selection compiled by Tex Aid, he then picks out the pieces he needs and transforms them into haute couture or commercial models.
Break the cycle
With his fashion Kouto takes the clothes out of the wasteful use and discard cycle and gives them a new life. So he wants to set a sign against the current consumer and production mania. Rafael Kouto not only works with old pieces of clothing, but also uses more unconventional materials from household waste for his collections - plastic, for example.
At this year’s International Talent Support in Trieste, Italy, he scooped not one but two prizes – Lotto and Diesel awards – for his Suspended Bodies That Will Never Fall collection, watched by hundreds of industry professionals.
For more information follow Rafael Kouto:
