La Sape
Sartorial subculture centered on the Congolese cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville
La Sape
La Sape, an abbreviation based on the phrase Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (French; literally "Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People") and hinting to the French slang word sape which means "clothes" or sapé, which means "dressed up", is a subculture centered on fashion, elegance, and public performance that originated among Congolese communities in the cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of Congo respectively. An adherent of La Sape is known as a sapeur or, if female, as a sapeuse. The movement embodies the elegance in style and manners of colonial predecessor dandies. The philosophy of La Sape is based on ten fundamental "commandments" that govern the behavior of sapeurs and summarize the principles of the movement. Several "founding myths" have been developed by sapeurs to explain the movement's origins. The first links La Sape to the precolonial Kingdom of Kongo and is based on historical accounts that describe...
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