It Doesn't Take Money To Have Style . . .
August 01, 2012
I know this item has been circulating out there for years, but it has come to my attention that there are some well dressed men out there that haven't heard of their Congolese brethren, Les Sapeurs. In the 1970s, popular musician Papa Wemba, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), began promoting the idea of the Sapeur, forming the "Société des Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants," or SAPE, of which many modern-day Sapeurs claim membership. Since that time, these gents (Congolese everymen, not wealthy warlords) have been strutting their style as a sartorial middle finger to the violence, criminality, and abject poverty they find themselves surrounded by every day. An act of defiance that anyone of good taste may be proud. Check out Daniele Tamagni's book, "
Gentlemen of Bacongo" to learn more.
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