Le Sapeurs: My Fashion Heroes

Nestled deep within the interior Congo, where people subsist on pennies a day (Congo, as of 2003, ranks as #204 of #208 ranked countries in per capita income), has an unlikely society, wherein high couture is the rule, and members are held to a strict code of professional and personal conduct embracing morality and ethics as their core values.



It's a society called "La SAPE", or spelled out it is "La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes" - roughly translating to "The Society Practicing Ambiance and the Elegant People". These gentlemen live their lives in Kinshasa and Brazzaville, in conditions that would be intolerable for those of us with 'western sensibilities'. That they are so devoted to their cause is admirable.



Not much content here since it's poached from other blogs, but I will provide a number of links to the original sources for this material.

Firstly, buy the book, "The Gentlemen of Bacongo" by Daniele Tamagni. It's available on Amazon.



Gentlemen of Bacongo review from Coolhunting.com
Jezebel: Gentlemen Of Bacongo: The Dandies Of Sub-Saharan Africa
New York Times review: "The Gentlemen of Bacongo"