Brazaville, capitale of Congo is situated in central Africa. 70% of the population live in poverty. Despite this being stylish is a question of honor in the Congolese capital. Society for the Advancement of people of Elegance, from French “La Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personne Elegantes” otherwise know as Le ‘Sape’, is one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. Members have their own code of honor, codes of professional conduct and strict notions of morality. Le ‘Sape’ has recently become an international phenomenon, with branches in Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Paris, Brussels and parts of South London.At the heart of this exclusive world is the cult of the cloth, the deity of style and fashion.Adherents of Le ‘Sape’ have a style unlike any other. The clothes worn by the ‘Sapeurs’ (as the followers of Le ‘Sape’ are known) may look familiar but the way they wear them is not. Style and relationship to clothes is completely unique. It is at once a throwback to a lost word of pre-colonial elegance and decadence. At the same time it is also futuristic and even a little freakish given the extremity of the urban conditions in which many of them live, particularly in the Congo. Le ‘Sape’ is a movement of contradictions and paradoxes. It juxtaposes symbols of excess and conspicious consumption admidst some of the most painful scenes of urban poverty. This brings the question of how important the need for a social identity is and how crucial the need to be part of a group is? This also raises the issue of how fashion helps to construct a social identity?
To answer these questions we will firstly describe the birth of the ‘Sape’ movement, secondly talk about the paradox of living in a poor country and dressing as someone from a wealthy country.


The SAPE translated in English as Society of Advanced and Elegant People, is a popular practice born in the late 1960s in Congo - Brazzaville. It began when the country was a French colony. This movement was created as a way for