However, in the poorest countries in Africa-Congo (Brazzaville) and Congo (Kinshasa), there are a group of well-dressed and elegant people. Their appearance is out of tune with the poor African society.
In front of him, Maxim, a black brother who wears a bright suit and exudes a high-class atmosphere, is one of them.
Wearing a pink bow tie and a red suit, he walked out of his shabby hut and started a beautiful day in Sapu.
Maxim said that when you walk in the streets of Africa, you need to have 100% confidence in yourself and believe that you are the king who wears the world.
When Congolese locals see Maxim, their eyes are full of admiration and envy, just like seeing a big star. They will scream and shout around him.
A vendor in the vegetable market said that Maxim was their champion and the pride of their village. What kind of champion is this little black brother Maxim, who can make his neighbors love and respect him so much?
With our in-depth understanding, we finally uncovered the truth about their champion. It turns out that locals in suits and ties like Maxim are all dubbed "Sapu". This is a French abbreviation, the full name of which is the association of fashionable and elegant people.
After work, these people will dress themselves up and even hold professional competitions to select champions. Maxim was lucky to win the last game, which made him a famous figure.
In order to understand the phenomenon of Sapu subculture in Africa, it can be traced back to17th century. During that period, European countries began to colonize overseas. France has become the second largest colonial empire after Britain. In addition to North America, Africa became an important area of French colonization.
However, by World War II, France needed to be saved. So soldiers from all over the world came to France to fight. This is a famous French foreign legion, in which 200,000 Africans joined, and they made great contributions to the liberation of France.
After World War II, some African soldiers chose to stay in France, while others returned to their hometown. A group of Congolese, dressed in the uniforms of the French Overseas Corps, returned to their hometown after years of separation. The only remaining local women and children, seeing this group of well-dressed soldiers, have only infinite respect in their eyes. They are also regarded as heroes, and some soldiers get expensive rewards.
Because I saw a large number of European gentlemen in France, their elegant manners and gorgeous suits made them full of praise and envy. So they used the money to buy many latest fashions in France.
In order to keep in touch when they returned to their hometown, the soldiers formed a group called "Style Builders and Elegant People Association", or "La Sape" for short, the so-called Sapu Association. Every time the association holds an activity, they will wear elegant clothes bought from France.
Once, the French were shocked to see the naked Congolese, and their eyes showed their love for French gentlemen and exquisite clothes. So the French began to wholesale a large number of second-hand clothes in Europe, including old suits and shoes.
They can easily gain the loyalty and support of local chiefs through these clothes. These Congolese wearing French second-hand suits became the first nation to accept modern European civilization, enjoying a high reputation and prestige, which influenced generations of Congolese.
Today, the Sapu Association has a history of hundreds of years in Africa, but many people have never heard of such a subculture.
Maxim tells us that if you want to be a good Sapu, you must have your own dress concept and style, not like ordinary people. And you must have many sets of clothes and shoes to make different combinations. Maxim crossed his legs and talked with Kan Kan, and his confidence radiated from the inside out. If it weren't for those shabby houses in the background, I would think he was the creative director of an international brand.
Maxim also established his own family, with a beautiful wife and four lovely children. This African woman named Ma Ni is his wife. I learned from her that her husband used to be in the clothing wholesale business. Ma Ni used to be a woman who liked beautiful clothes very much. They met in Maxim clothing store.
Maxim was still a playboy at that time, and all the women outside the village wanted to marry him. In the end, because Ma Ni shared the same hobbies with him, he successfully stood out from many girls and established a new family.
We can know from Ma Ni's words that she is also very proud. When Ma Ni is busy doing housework every day, the only thing Maxim has to do every day is to make sure that he is the most beautiful in the street today, so as to keep his title.
If you think that these Sapu are wearing second-hand clothes or fake brands, you are all wet. These Sapu wear first-line luxury brands, mainly in Europe, not Armani, Gucci and Saint Laurent. Leather shoes must be the top brands of private tailors.
Maxim also showed us his collection, such as this pair of leather shoes, which is J.M.Weston from France, the top leather shoes manufacturer in France. This pair is worth 1 100 USD.
Although these shoes are so expensive, they are a stepping stone for Sapu. Every qualified Sapu needs a pair of Weston shoes. In order to buy this pair of leather shoes, Maxim saved money for almost two years before buying it.
If the money from these shoes is used to buy land, he can buy a large piece of land in Africa, but in order to maintain his self-esteem and elegant lifestyle, he must buy these shoes.
Ma Ni's biggest complaint about this marriage is that every time he goes out with Maxim, he always spends a lot of time dressing himself up, at least 1 hour, and the longest is more than 2 hours. This is just the opposite of the situation in our country.
A good friend of Maxim's village has a unique style of dressing. Although he is heavily dressed, his gestures are elegant. Moreover, he also showed off his own pair of leather shoes, which are really customized with crocodile skin.
After reading it for so long, you must be curious about how their clothes and shoes have been kept clean for so long. In addition to their regular maintenance and cleaning, there will be people who will specifically remove all the dirty things on the road and open the way for them.
In the city center, there are a lot of Sapu. They wear their best clothes, such as white socks imported from Italy, suspenders from British brands and suits from top luxury brands. Especially every weekend night, there will be a clothing exchange meeting here.
In order to improve his status and influence, Sapu will bring his most expensive clothes to attend. Regardless of the background, you think this is some upper-class party. Some of them, Sapu with long experience, even became one of the experts. They can tell at a glance what brand your clothes are, and they can also tell at a glance whether your clothes are true or false.
The moon is one of them. He took us home to see his collection. As an old Sapu and a clothes appraiser, he must have more clothes than ordinary Sapu. Judging from his suits, he owns nearly 30 sets. There are countless accessories related to it. Bowties, ties and hats of various colors, because accessories can add luster to clothes.
And a good Sapu should learn to control these accessories. However, such a senior Sapu is just an ordinary person. All his clothes will take a long time to buy. For him, he can only buy more big-name clothes through loans. He will borrow $8,600 at a time to go shopping and buy clothes. Because he is Sapu, the bank is willing to lend him money instead. It seems that we can't understand this kind of values well.
These sap hardly work. They think that a real fool should dress up as a rich French gentleman and sit together for tea and chat every day.
This story can be traced back to Maxim. Since he became the champion of the competition, he has also started to hold some courses. Train people who want to join the association and teach them to wear ties and basic clothing matching skills. Introduce all kinds of clothing knowledge, fabric knowledge and how to be a gentleman.
At the same time, Maxim thinks that the color of clothes is more important than the brand. Maxim, for these people in the class,
Everyone is an idol and wants to be such a person. Interestingly, Maxim's course is completely free. After the course, he left gracefully in his 5-hand Toyota. For him, gaining fame and respect is obviously more important than life.