january-2019

60 / HERITAGE / Fashion
HERITAGE / 61
Below: Elie (45) has been a Sapeur
since the age of 10. He has one child
and owns two taxis, which he rents out
in order to save up for his Ganni bag,
J.M. Weston crocodile shoes and Louis
Vuitton cane. But his most prized item is
his blue Ruben O suit. Right page above:
Arle (33) performs the signature Sapeur
greeting of stamping and clicking his
heels together. He has been a Sapeur for
eight years and works as a driver. Right
page below: Celestin (67) is a builder
who has been a Sapeur for 55 years. He
shows off his beloved Emmanuelle Khanh
sunglasses and Giorgio Armani braces.
IMMACULATELY DRESSED in
a pink three-piece suit, bow tie and
sunglasses, Maxim wouldn’t look out
of place on a catwalk at Paris Fashion
Week. But he happens to be strutting his
stuff in Ouenzé, a suburb of Brazzaville.
Despite the sewage-strewn streets, crumbling
concrete homes, chickens pecking
the dust around his feet and, of course,
the intense heat, this 43-year-old Sapeur
looks like a million dollars. Followers of
Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes
Élégantes (the Society of Tastemakers
and Elegant People) aka La SAPE, the
Sapeurs will spend US$3,000 on a suit
when they don’t even have running
water, and go without food in order
to save up for the right designer accessories.
Most have ordinary day jobs as
taxi drivers and gardeners, but as soon
as they clock off, they transform themselves
into debonair dandies.
Defying their circumstances by
sashaying through the streets, the Sapeurs
are treated like rock stars as they turn
heads and bring joie de vivre to their
communities. Spending money on ornate
umbrellas and silk socks might seem
surreal when almost half the population
of the country lives in poverty, but the
La SAPE movement aims to do more
than just lift spirits. Over the decades, it
has functioned as a form of resistance,
social activism and peaceful protest.
La Mairie or De Guy, bars on the
dusty streets in Brazzaville, may not
look like churches or temples, but every
Sunday evening the Sapeurs visit these
well-known places of worship. Their
god is fashion and, as you’d expect, the
ceremonial robes are spectacular. From
the tips of their Armani fedoras, to the
soles of their shiny J.M.Weston shoes,
these men are dressed to the nines. As
they click their heels, showing off flamboyant
braces while twirling their canes,
© Tariq Zaidi
“The true art lies in a Sapeur’s ability to put together a
look that is European, but has an African twist”
they’re in stark contrast with their slumlike
surroundings. The Republic of the
Congo is one of the poorest countries in
the world, and yet for followers of La
SAPE, labels are everything – knock-offs
are not accepted – and they prefer to
get their clothes directly from Europe,
waiting for friends to travel to Paris or
London to buy clothes from designers
such as Dior, Gucci, Jean-Paul Gaultier,
Armani, Kenzo, Yamamoto and Versace.
The gross national income per capita
(per year) in the Republic of the Congo
may be US$1,710, but the Sapeurs will
think nothing of spending that on a
single pair of shoes.
Most of these men will save up for
years or borrow huge sums to fund their
lavish wardrobes. They will also share
clothes to maintain the appearance of
affluence, pick up items from fashion
boutiques in Brazzaville, or have pieces
made by local tailors. True “Sapologie”
is about more than expensive labels; the
true art lies in a Sapeur’s ability to >