The African women taking center stage

Founded by Italian-born French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza in 1880, Brazzaville is the capital of Republic of the Congo―home to just under half of the country’s 5.7 million inhabitants. Set on the banks of the Congo River, the port city is the country’s principal administrative and cultural hub. A UNESCO-designated Creative City of Music since 2013, Brazzaville is home to the African Music Council, and hosts a number of high-profile music festivals. Fashion is an emerging sector here, and the city hosted the inaugural Brazza Fashion Week (BFW) in April 2022.

In early 20th-century Brazzaville and Leopoldville (now Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) Congolese men began to adopt aristocratic European, or “dandy,” fashion and style as a means of gaining respect from French and Belgian colonizers. After World War II, Congolese soldiers and others returned home with fashions they had picked up in Europe. By the 1980s, La Sape―La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (Society of Ambience Creators and Elegant People) ―was firmly established in both cities, divorced from its colonial roots, and further influenced by Congolese music stars like Papa Wemba.

Today La Sape is an international phenomenon, garnering global media attention with diaspora groups in European cities like London, Paris, and Brussels. In Brazzaville, sapeurs “perform” in their local neighborhoods, using high-fashion fantasies and sartorial creativity to channel alter egos that elevate them from their everyday surroundings. They tend to wear extravagant suits accessorized with vintage pipes, fedoras, oversized shades, polished walking canes, outsized cravats, dress shoes, and pocket watches. Sapeurs showcase their personal style by striking poses and employing the distinctive rolling gait that is unique to La Sape and known as diatance.

Entrepreneur and mother of two Laurence Ndzimi strikes a pose. Ndzimi is a member of Mavula Sape, an official sapeuses group in Brazzaville. Over the last decade or so, les sapeurs have been joined by their female counterparts, les sapeuses.  These women subvert not only the notion that refinement and sartorial elegance depend on economic status, but also traditional gender roles. “There has always been a history of African women being vocal,” says photographer and National Geographic Explorer Yagazie Emezi. “They’ve just been either intentionally silenced—or ignored. [Today] women are taking on political roles, activist roles.”

Sapeuses source and personalize their clothes and accessories at local thrift stores, boutiques, tailor shops, and marketplaces, often dedicating a significant portion of their modest incomes to scoring fashion finds. Marché Poto-Poto in the heart of Brazzaville hosts scores of stalls selling secondhand and vintage clothing and accessories. Messani Grace (left) is president of Mavula Sape, and  she and her fellow sapeuses often appear on television program dedicated to La Sape. Messani’s hope is that one day there will be opportunities for women to represent La Sape internationally.    

La Sape is about more than just bold social statements, it’s also about solidarity and camaraderie. Neighborhood associations like Mavula Sape give sapeuses opportunities to meet up, socialize, and compete with other groups. Though La Sape has gained international recognition and a level of acceptance in major urban centers like Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are still those who frown on the spectacle of what they perceive as women dressing like men.

Brazzaville is the capital of a country in which poverty is widespread and people’s daily lives can be challenging. The colorful elegance of sapeuses and their outfits and the exuberance of their performances—the distinctive music, ritual, and argot —subvert the mundanities of everyday life. Sapeuses often perform in public, and are largely cheered on enthusiastically as local stars. Over the decades, La Sape has functioned as a vehicle for resistance, peaceful protest, social activism―a subculture whose influence is now felt around the world.

La Sape shows air on Republic of the Congo’s Télé Congo, and Messani Grace regularly appears and is watched by her family. Messani’s daughter, Daniella, has embraced the subculture, but says it’s rare for girls of her age to become sapeuses. “Maybe they think it’s shameful, but I find it normal,” she says. Daniella was “really shy” when she started out, but now feels “courageous.” Despite being as passionate as her mother, she has a very different style—jeans and a long denim jacket–reflecting an evolving world shaped by new influences thanks, in part, to the rise of social media. 

Women across Africa are empowering themselves: when it comes to female entrepreneurs, sub-Saharan Africa leads the world. Many women start out by building homegrown businesses, such as street food stalls or outlets selling utilities and fashions. Some of these entrepreneurs grow their businesses into small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Haddy Dibba set up a fashion and homeware business in  Banjul, capital of The Gambia. Dab Creations produces African-inspired products, from home decor to colorful fashions. Dibba developed her business skills with the help of the UN SheTrades program and logistics company DHL. 

Haddy Dibba worked from home for six years before opening her own shop in 2021. Now Dibba employs her own team to help turn her creative ideas into marketable goods for sale to locals and tourists. She was able to develop skills like bookkeeping, marketing, and pricing with the support of SheTrades and logistics company DHL. Through her shop and her social media sites, she’s developed a customer base outside the country.  Logistics company DHL “came at a time when we were struggling to send our products abroad to customers, as normal post could take months,” she says.

“We are convinced that women have to, and should, play a bigger role in society and in the economy across sub-Saharan Africa,” says DHL’s Venessa Dewing. Women here face multiple challenges, including inadequate regulations, social prejudices, disproportionate family responsibilities, lower rates of education, and, above all, limited access to finance. DHL’s GoTrade program aims to support sustainable, inclusive economic growth for small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets around the world. ​This includes supporting many women-run businesses across Africa,  providing women with training, mentoring, and logistical support to reach new markets―and achieve success. 

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