The Sapologie Subculture in the Republic of Congo

identarian crisis or elegant resistance

Résumé

Western pop culture has been paying tribute and unveiling to the rest of the world a unique subculture that arose many decades ago in colonial Congo-Brazzaville; the sapologie. My first vivid memory of sapeurs was from a viral French Afropop video-clip in 2016, "Sapé's Comme Jamais" by MaÎtre Gims. I was quite intrigued by those men’s unique demeanors and their luxuriant and unusual outfits. But it was only a few months ago that I was able to clearly discover and get a more comprehensive grasp of who those impressive and extraordinary men were when a French Youtuber, Loris Giuliano, published an offbeat documentary on ‘La Sapologie’. In his video, Loris interviewed one of the most renowned sapeurs in Paris, the Bachelor, who owns the most exclusive Sapeur store supplying every ‘aventuriers’ and ‘mikilistes’ who settled in ‘Paname’. After discovering only a fraction of the sapeurs’ subculture, I was already fascinated by their charisma as well as their astonishing sense of fashion which transgressed nearly every norm and code.