{"id":4388,"date":"2017-12-10T23:19:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T04:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=4388"},"modified":"2017-12-26T08:53:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-26T13:53:56","slug":"sapeurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2017\/12\/10\/sapeurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People\u2014Congolese Dandies Reinterpreting European Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

“When I dress like this, it’s like I have the Holy Spirit in me,” a middle-aged taxi driver by the name of Elyfontaine told The Wall Street Journal<\/a> in 2011. “I’m at ease, as if I were sinless.”<\/p>\n

He is one of the Sappers, part of the \u201cS.A.P.E.: Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes\/ Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People\u201d in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo. They’re the subject of photos by H\u00e9ctor Mediavilla of Barcelona, Spain, on view at the College of the Holy Cross\u2019s Cantor Art Gallery<\/a> in Worcester from Oct. 18 through Dec. 15, 2017.<\/p>\n

Sappers are generally working-class dandies, in this country that has struggled with war and poverty, who spend princely sums to reinterpret European men\u2019s fashion with vibrant African flair. It\u2019s said that the tradition dates to the 1920s when the Republic of Congo was a French colony and Congolese men began adopting French styles.<\/p>\n