Crusaders for Fashion: Congolese Lust for Labels

"willingly spend as much on a jacket as they would on a house in Kinshasa"

Was there ever a time when you had a spectacular event or party to attend and you had nothing to wear? Of course! But was there a specific look you were trying to capture? I'm talking about on some, yes -I- am-here-and-let-the-party-begin type of look.
At the last and desperate moment, you decide to splurge on a designer outfit that you know you can't afford, like shopping at Saks on a forever 21 budget. I know you guys feel me because I have been guilty of this countless times.
Well, our fashion friends over on the Motherland, the Congo to be exact, are doing it way big, splurging like you would never believe. Could you imagine living off of $100 dollars a YEAR. HEll to the Naw! So how did the men of the Congo find the way to dress in the European's finest ever day of their lives.

The socialites of a 24 year old movement called SAPE- La Societé des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (aka Kitendi, the religion of the cloth) sport some of the finest labels in the world such as, Cavali, Gucci, Armani, Yamamoto, and Versace just to name a few. These men of the Congo wear high fashion and couture for sport. It's like Kanye vs. Pharrell, who can rock the best of the best at all cost?...but with a more desperate approach. There is somewhat of a psyche behind this practice to acquiring rich European garments. Somewhat ritualistic.
These guys don't get wardrobes shipped to them for free or just write it off on a business expense. This an every day way of life, and they will kill, rob, and sale themselves for the mighty cloth.
I can barely find a decent outfit to wear to work let alone sport full frontal fashion everyday of the week, so just imagine how serious and dangerous this could be.

Colors Magazine-

These are sapeurs, acolytes of a 25-year-old movement called la SAPE—La Societé des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (aka Kitendi, the religion of the cloth)

— that revolves around the possession of the most expensive, most luxurious, most extravagant fashion in the world. Followers of SAPE wear $10,000 jackets and $500 shoes, but these mostly young Congolese men otherwise barely eke out a living in the rubble of Kinshasa and Brazzaville or the ghettos of Paris and Brussels, washing dishes or washing bodies, and sometimes selling their own.

The Brazzaville faithful keep to a strict three-color rule—including accessories—for any outfit, in Kinshasa and among the immigrants in Europe, the look is more hip-hop, and features a blinding array of patterns and hues. But in both groups, designer names are at such a premium that rival sapeurs will do battle with each other, flashing label after label, trying to best their opponent, stripping down, if necessary, to their underwear. “It's combat,” says Héctor Mediavilla Sabaté, a photographer who's been studying the sapeurs since 2003, “and the clothes are the weapons.”

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the average annual income is about US$100, among the lowest in the world, according to the World Bank. And Congolese immigrants in Europe are among the poorest, but many willingly spend as much on a jacket as they would on a house in Kinshasa

Peace and Blessings,
Eddie Nicole