Gucci Endorses Hip Hop’s Original Tailor Dapper Dan

CBx Vibe: “Redemption Song” Bob Marley

  • Gucci and Day will collaborate on a capsule collection
  • Gucci’s 2017 revenue €6.2 billion ($7.6 billion)

From Harlem to Italy, Daniel Day known as “Dapper Dan” finally secures his spot in mainstream fashion. The streetwear pioneer is re-opening his Harlem shop of high end hip hop clothing.  

Why This Matters: Day’s style of remixing high-end logos from the likes of Gucci and Louis Vuitton (LVMH -1.52%) into custom designs during the 80s and 90s made him a trailblazer. It also led to a massive copyright infringement lawsuit from these luxury brands. Eventually causing him to shut down his Harlem store. Fast forward to 2017 Gucci which is owned by Kering (KER -1.14%) made €6.2 billion ($7.6 billion) in revenue. Perhaps some of this strong revenue can be attributed to Day since they were selling a puff sleeve jacket design he created for Olympian Diane Dixon back in 1989.

It has been said by many people the fashion industry has failed the black community all while appropriating its culture. For many years Day was public enemy number one to the major European fashion houses because he was filling what he considered a legitimate need in the market. “When you’re creating something that has such appeal, people don’t tend to care whether the original manufacturer was making it. People knew that Dapper Dan doesn’t knock off, he knocks up” Day said.

Now two decades later and a major culture shift in society has made a world of difference. Day will relaunch his exclusive Harlem atelier and this time around, Gucci will supply him with all those Gs he once had to pirate.

What’s Next: Gucci and Day will collaborate on a capsule collection that will be produced and sold in Gucci stores worldwide this spring. Day has always been a cultural staple and his memoir as the Godfather of Hip Hop fashion is coming out in 2019. According to the Hollywood reporter Sony (SNE +0.12%) has tapped Jerrod Carmichael to produce Day’s biopic described as a “high-stakes coming-of-age story.”

CBx Vibe: “Redemption Song” Bob Marley

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