Le Sapeurs Magazine Spread

ISSUE 01 | NOV 15

MEET THE LE SAPEURS

ICONS OF STYLE

THE WORLDS MOST UNLIKELY FASHIONISTAS

GIVING HOPE TO A WAR TORN NATION

AFRICAN FASHION STYLE TIPS FROM THE GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGO

01

WISEGUYS GENTLEMENS

C LOT H I N G

www.wiseguysfashion.com

1920 Rodeo Drive | Beverly Hills | CA wise_guys

CONTENTS 01

Meet the Le Sapeurs

09

Style tips

03 11

History of Le Sapeurs

African Fashion

05

Philosophy of Le Sape

07

Life in the Congo

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The Congolese are known to have a good reputation when it comes to style, but a group of men takes fashion to a whole different level and don’t shy away from treating it as their culture.

These men are called the Les sapeurs.

W

hen the challenge for some of the population is just to try and eat that day in the face of grinding poverty, matching your shoes with your tie isn’t exactly high on everyone’s agenda. And yet, quietly and persistently, a fascinating cultural movement has been bubbling like an undercurrent in this pocket of the world for over a century.

The Sapeurs sense of style is one of joyous exuberance, flamboyant colour, polished tailoring and impeccable attention to detail; suits in periwinkle pink, buttercup yellow and poison green, fat regatta stripes, Jeevesesque bowler hats, handsome canes, plump bow-ties, polished brogues and jaunty evening scarves, draped just so. It’s a sartorial DNA that nods to 1920’s jazz age refinement and has its roots in the French colonisation of the Congo in the early 20th century.

“The Sapeur is a model of gentlemanly behaviour and mannerisms. It’s also the language he uses, the way he walks. How you treat people is very important.”

What makes their sense of dress all the more remarkable – surreal even – is that it often takes place against a backdrop of poverty and deprivation, the Sapeurs resemble rare exotic birds in the most desperate of surroundings, from bombed buildings to shanty-town slums. But this isn’t about frivolity or conspicuous displays of wealth. There are strict behavioral customs that come with being a Sapeur which are as important, if not more so, than dressing with dash and flair.

“The Sapeur is a model of gentlemanly behaviour and mannerisms; it’s also the language he uses, the way he walks,” “How you treat people is very important. For a man to be a Sapeur he must be gentle, he must not be aggressive, he must be against war, he must be calm tempered.” In a country where many of the population live below the poverty line, the simple act of civility and kindness means a great deal.

0304 Continued from pg 01

Les sapeurs actually exist as an organized institution called “Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes“ (meaning “the Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People”) in both the Kinshasa and Brazzaville. It all began at the dawn of the 20th century, when the French arrived in Congo. Shortly after, the myth of the Parisian elegance appeared among the young people of the Bakongo, which is an ethnic group in the Congo. These Congolese men worked for the French colonizers or used to spend time in France, which lead to them adopting the European’s aristocratic affect and style. They adapted it and slowly made it into something of their own. Today, in Brazzaville, men continue to dress up in bright colors and well-tailored suits, accessorized with fancy shoes and hats.

The Sapeurs’ cultivated code of conduct, gentility and sense of propriety is a rejection of the more brutal aspects of Congolese life. Even the stringent grooming regimes of the Sapeurs is, to Mediavilla, a way of showing that one has the ability to wash and stay clean and hygienic in a country where water is in short supply. And when so much of the West’s idea of Africa comes from what we’ve seen in the media, there’s a sense that the Sapeurs are striking out as rainbowhued, vibrant individuals in a world that’s been painted in broad brushstrokes.

The Sapeurs look doesn’t have to come at great expense either, says Mediavilla. “Men borrow pieces from one another, and focus on putting it all together in an individual, creative way. They pick pieces up from the fashion boutiques in Brazzaville or have pieces made by local tailors. A lot of the clothes come from Europe and are sold in the Congo.”

“The Sapeurs’ cultivated code of conduct, gentility and sense of propriety is a rejection of the more brutal aspects of Congolese life.”

It’s not a clandestine society either; the focus is on inclusiveness.

Initiation into the visual and social codes of the Sapeur society comes through myriad ways too. “Sometimes it’s a father showing his son how it’s done; sometimes its through friends. Sometimes it’s a personal choice. The Sapeurs like to say that it passes through generations, from grandfather to father to son.”

Cynics might dismiss it as trivial gloss, but the transformative effect of dressing as a Sapeur - of perfecting the dimple in a half-Windsor knot, tilting that top hat at just the right angle, fine tuning the colours - is “a way of feeling a sense of pride.”