Sapé Culture in Kinshasa by https://padlet.com/paquk6270/thmu8ejyrb41cgp en-us 2024-05-03 14:24:46 UTC 2024-05-16 22:21:21 UTC hello@padlet.com Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo paquk6270 https://padlet.com/paquk6270/thmu8ejyrb41cgp/wish/2996552286 Sapé, also known as Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes, is a unique subculture popularised by the people who live in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. You may think that being sapé is just dressing in fancy, bright and expensive clothing, but there’s actually a lot more to the style than meets the eye. Before we dive too deep into the meaning behind the fashion; let's take a look at the history. Sapé culture was originally introduced to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the early 20th century by French colonial workers. The Congolese male workers that worked for the French colonizers or that spent time in France were influenced heavily by their fashion and style. Some of the colonizers found it appropriate to pay their workers with secondhand clothes as opposed to money. This led to houseboys in the DRC to spend their wages to buy the newest fashions from Paris. However it wasn’t until the 1970s that sapé culture became a movement for anti-poverty and political protest in Kinshasa. This is also when women started getting involved with sapé culture in the city. Now that we understand where the subculture came from; lets learn about the meaning behind sapé. While sapé people might seem to be of high power, they are actually just regular people who use the sapé community as a way of escaping the poverty and undesirable living conditions in their country. The behaviour that sapé people showcase is just as important as the fashion, and to be sapé you can’t just dress the part you also have to act the part. Being sapé means being gentlemanly and a pacifist as well as being anti-poverty and anti-war among other things. Overall it is easy to see that people in the sapé community bring hope and inspire the people they meet with their positive and friendly attitude.


The defining features of a sapé outfit includes - an outfit with at least two or three typically bright colours (not including white), expensive brand name clothes from Europe, and (not part of the outfit but) a customised walk

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