Supreme Court.Īfter his store closed in 1992 because of the legal pressures, he said, he went "underground," with private clients including Floyd Mayweather. There were legal orders and raids, including one by Fendi, whose lawyer for anti-counterfeiting efforts was Sonia Sotomayor, now on the U.S. "I was creating things that when somebody wore it, they knew, 'Oh, no, Gucci doesn't even make pants and jackets and overcoats and things,'" at least not the way he was doing it.īy the late 1980s, when his clients also included Mike Tyson, who got into a fight with another fighter at Dapper Dan's store, the brands had started to bring their power to bear against him. He wasn't like the people who were making counterfeit bags and belts. He showed the brands all these possibilities it's clear they had never really considered."ĭapper Dan insists what he was doing wasn't a knockoff. "Dapper Dan took something that was there. "This is kind of the story of hip-hop," said Erik Nielson, an associate professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, who teaches black pop culture. His logo-draped fabrics also were used in everything from suits to car interiors, in styles and silhouettes that the labels themselves weren't even doing. "None of the big brands were making coats and jackets. He saw the pull of luxury and brand names and came up with the idea of putting the logos people coveted from bags and luggage on clothes to be worn. When Gucci came along, I saw the opportunity to do this element of transformation on a larger scale."ĭapper Dan's outfits in the 1980s were original designs embossed with designer logos from Gucci, Fendi and Louis Vuitton among others - without the brands' permission. "I took that same concept in opening up a store, transforming people. His operation now is a different one from the 24-hour shop that turned out custom-made jackets for those early rap superstars, but Dapper Dan said some things haven't changed.Īs a young man with a reputation for sharp dressing, "my first intention was to transform myself through clothes," he said. The couturier, whose real name is Daniel Day, now has a new Gucci-sponsored workshop in a Harlem brownstone, not far from the now-closed 125th Street boutique that once clothed Salt-N-Pepa, Eric B. It's a situation that Dapper Dan calls "amazing" and that observers say is a reflection of how hip-hop and street style have influenced global fashion, with him among the innovators. He's gotten a partnership with Gucci and the likes of Beyonce among those wearing his designs, like the logoed jacket that is part of her costumes in her current tour with her husband, Jay-Z. Now the fashion groundbreaker, who spent more than two decades out of the public eye, is back. NEW YORK - In hip-hop's golden era, the artists responsible for rap's distinctive sound went to Harlem fashion designer Dapper Dan for the period's equally distinctive look.
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