Religion ya kitendi. The language of dress in the Congolese SAPE movement and how it can be understood

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to indicate the historical, cultural, ideological and psychosocial foundations of the SAPE Movement (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élegantés), one of the most characteristic and enduring phenomena occurring in Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sapeurs manifest their worldview, desires and needs through clothing and practices associated with it. They are ritual, communal, compensatory and escapist. The clothing language in SAPE is a specific, largely iconic, communication system. It becomes relatively understandable only in the context of the historical, social and political realities of both countries, using the semiotic key related to the language of fashion.