To follow up our last meeting with my students, I'd like to ask you if you have heard about people who would sacrifice everything for designer labels and fashy clothes? I guess your answer will be yes, maybe you've even seen the Cofessions of a Shopaholic and you know that some fashion-lovers can't be warned even by the debt collector. But if I continue saying that these people may be found at the heart of the "Black Continent", in Congo, in shabby impoverished neighbourhoods - wouldn't you at least be a bit surprised? Take a look for example at this relaxed gentleman:
Or even a more relaxed gentleman:
Those people contrasting so strongly with their surroundings are called the spaeurs - form the French abbreviation SAPE - Societe des Ambienceurs et Personnes Elegantes (which may be transleted as the "society of atmosphere setters and elegant persons"). It wouldn't be at all strange for such society to exist, if not the fact that they often consist of the unemployed who spare on food or turn to crime in order to be able to afford getting the clothes.
You can view a slide show of photographs by Francesco Giusti and read an article about the sapeurs here.
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