For my University of Oregon Clark Honors College undergraduate thesis, I traveled to Paris and Brussels to research la Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elégantes (the Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People, or la Sape). La Sape is a social movement of well-dressed men from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. Since the 1980s, these men, known as Sapeurs, have used fashion to explore identity building in politically and economically tumultuous postcolonial societies.

Learn more about the world of la Sape at lasapeproject.squarespace.com. The website is a collaboration between web producer Brianna Spause of BS Productions and me.

This thesis was supported by the University of Oregon Clark Honors College and the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation. For my work, I was awarded the Barbara Corrado Pope Award and a University of Oregon Undergraduate Library Research Award.