Dapper Dan’s journey was not easy, there are a lot of lessons to be learned, but here are three key lessons I learnt.ĭapper Dan had a remarkable work ethic, he kept his store open 24 hours a day to cater to the schedules of his clientele.
In response, Gucci hired Dapper Dan to design a capsule collection, and in 2018 it sponsored a new appointment-only atelier in Harlem in tribute to his original boutique. When Gucci put a puff-sleeved mink bomber jacket emblazoned with the double G monogram down the catwalk, the piece’s similarity to a Dapper Dan jacket made for the Olympian track star Diane Dixon in 1989 was picked up by social media users, and they called Gucci out for cultural appropriation. In 2017 came a turnaround in Dapper Dan’s fortunes.
In 1992, after a successful trademark infringement case from Fendi, Dapper Dan’s boutique was shut for good. Dapper Dan made luxury even more luxurious, producing custom looks in fur and designer leather for those who could afford his clothing.īy the late 80s, the boutique was being regularly raided by the police. He made outfits for well-known individuals such as LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Bobby Brown, Salt N Pepa, Mike Tyson.
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He found an unconventional solution to his annoying problem and decided to take it upon himself to learn everything he could about fashion, from business development to design.ĭapper Dan standing in front of his boutique store in Harlem.ĭapper Dan started to learn how to print textiles, he used bootleg fabrics to make high fashion prints, ripping off the symbology and iconography of massive popular brands such as Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, MCM, etc. Initially, his plan was to become a wholesaler, but he consistently encountered problems trying to find businesses that would take him seriously. He began selling clothing out of his car and later opened his first boutique in 1982. This was where he conceived his trademark idea, which he simply put as the “Africanization of the premium European brand.”ĭapper Dan decided he didn't want to be part of the gambling world anymore and decided to follow his fashion dream.
Six years later he returned to Africa and traveled to Congo, Lagos, and Monrovia in Liberia where he befriended a tailor who made him a suit from vivid local fabrics.
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Dapper Dan, started off as a professional gambler from a very young age, he says “First thing that I learned in life was about the gospel, the second was gambling.”ĭapper Dan was also a good writer, his writing led to him touring Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Tanzania in 1968, as part of a programme sponsored by Columbia University. In his memoir Made In Harlem, Dapper Dan shares his rags to riches story.ĭapper Dan made a name for himself as one of Harlem’s premier fashion designers in the 1980s, creating unique leather goods covered in high fashion counterfeit logos. I’ve been really enjoying writing these case studies so I want to write another about an extremely impressive entrepreneur and fashion mogul Dapper Dan.
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