During a conversation in the summer of 2019 in Kinshasa with the sapeuse La Princesse, she said that she tells her son repeatedly, “You eat money from La SAPE.” We sat at an outside table of a nganda (bar) underneath the shade while her son sat within earshot of our conversation.1 I was struck by La Princesse's assertion because it had framed La SAPE as a source of money that enables one to eat. This is significant in light of academic and media (mis)representations of La SAPE, which often concentrate on the elegance, extravagance, and escapism of sapeuses and sapeurs. Speaking of La SAPE in terms of earning income shifts the focus to practicality rather than reinforcing its sensationalism.

La SAPE stands for Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant Persons), and its members are called sapeuses (for women) and sapeurs (for...

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