The SAPE of Brazzaville. It was February 11th. My father and I were on our way home when we were stopped in traffic. Apparently there was a parade. I was told that this was common at that time of year in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, when I saw the participants in the show, I was amazed. It was a very colorful show full of haut couture brands: Gaultier, Vuitton, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Yamamoto and other brands. When I asked my father who these people were, he and the driver said at the same time: Les sapeurs. The sapeurs. From that parade on February 11, 2012; I concluded that the sapeurs were a group of poor people who instead of spending money on necessary things invested all their income in their clothing; so if someone had asked me what “SAPE” is, I would have answered: “It's a group of poor, unintelligent people from the Congo who have spent their money buying very expensive clothes that don't fit them.” Well, I was wrong. I have learned to understand the subculture called the SAPE. “SAP is the society of elegant and fantastic people,” said Patiance, a sapeur from Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo. The “SAPE” which stands for “Société des Ambianceurs et Personnes Élégantes” or the Society for the Advancement of People of Elegance in English is a subculture that found its origin in the early 20th century. “Early 20th century , with the arrival of the French in Congo, the myth of Parisian elegance was born among the young people of the Bakongo ethnic group, Congolese men who worked for the French colonizers, or who spent time in France, they began by adopting the sartorial elegance and aristocratic affection of that country." Hector Media......middle of paper......French, which in English is mystical, has a different meaning from the lexicon sapeur where it means funny. When I saw the sapeurs for the first time I immediately noticed their special way of walking. Most of them performed a movement that seemed like a dance to me. patinage” which consists of movements chorographic when walking. Being a sapeur also involves behaving politely when wearing the sapeur costume. Indeed, one of the greatest values ​​of sapeurs is mutual respect. Sapeurs don't fight, they have to be elegant (Salvador). Recently, a sapeur named Stervos Niarcos Ngashie, an adherent of the SAPE subculture, brought religious characteristics to the subculture. This religion is called Kitengui (Facebook). This fact apparently strengthened the moral code of the subculture.