A Millenial Sapeur
With tattoos and piercings, Robby Mouloki (who commonly goes by Robby Gianfranco in honor of late Italian fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré) is part of a new generation of Sapeurs embracing a movement whose future is unclear.
The son of the famed Congolese musician Gianfranco Ferré, who he said “gave taste to Congolese youth,” Gianfranco continues his parents’ legacy having built a clothing business buying vintage and designer clothes across Europe and reselling them online.
Although he was born in France, he said he is part of the movement because it connects him to the African diaspora not only in Europe, but globally. He said that men of African descent around the world have adopted unique sartorial styles, something that goes back centuries before colonialism (as discussed in Chapter Two). Gianfranco originally became interested in fashion through streetwear, though now regularly sports experimental designer suits reminiscent of 1970s fabrics and patterns with oversized hats.
Although his body modifications do not fit with the movement’s traditions, he said they are reminiscent of African cultures because “the Black man has a relationship with the physical, sensual, visual” that la Sape continues with designer clothing.
Gianfranco’s suburban Paris apartment full of garments (including over 2,000 suits) would be the envy of any Sapeur.
“La Sape is a love. It’s like a drug. It’s like someone who always thinks about drugs… I take two hours to get dressed.”
Gianfranco is frustrated with the idealized image of Europe many Congolese have.
“They [Congolese] have their ancestors, grandfathers, “tontons” [slang for “uncles”], their families who come back from Europe, and when they come back, they don’t tell the truth,” said Sapeur Robby Gianfranco. “They come back with a lot of clothes that they resell. He [the Congolese] buys a dream.”
Additionally, many older Sapeurs would never wear secondhand clothes, Gianfranco believes he is returning to the “original clothes” that influence current styles, a departure from the “griffe” that so captivated Sapeurs in the past.
“I think that we should not have to go anymore to Yves Saint Laurent or Comme des Garçons,” he said. “No. Today, we should insure that la Sape becomes an economy in its own right.”
He continued, though, that many Sapeurs live “a dream and not a reality,” which he said is the major problem of la Sape today. This is one of the reasons why he believes that although he is a leader in the next wave of Sapeurs, the movement is not drawing as many younger members.
“There’s a new generation of Sapeurs that is starting little by little to come,” he said. “But there are few who are my age because the elders do not perpetuate this tradition in the good sense as one would like. In order for young people today to want to be a Sapeur, it is first necessary to think, ‘What can it bring me?’”
Although he said certain older Sapeurs think he is “losing certain traditions” of the movement, he believed he is simply “adding a little new touch” while keeping the code of respect. This is because for la Sape to continue, he said, that there need to be “little revolutions,” not only in style, but in mentality as well. For him, la Sape is unique because it is a “state of mind.”
“La Sape is a revolt movement like punk, like the Rastas. The black man, he has suffered all of his life. He suffered injustice, poverty — through clothing, he proved to the white man that even in poor times he could have a wealthy exterior.”