Dapper Dan is a cultural icon. I don’t use the word ”icon” lightly. He is a figure who will be remembered forever for his contributions to fashion as we know it.
I first became familiar with Dap’s work through a documentary. The film, Fresh Dressed, chronicled the history of fashion in hip-hop. During the portion detailing Dap’s work, I was stunned by how many current luxury designers’ clothing resembled custom clothes he made in the 80s and 90s!
From that moment on I was enamored with Dapper Dan’s designs. I needed to know more about them and about the man behind their creation.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Dap again a few times on The Hype, Project Runway and the Netflix documentary American Style. All his appearances were enthralling and educational; plus he looked fantastic. Still, I craved more insight into this living legend’s history.
Then I stumbled upon his incredible memoir.
Who is Dapper Dan?
Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem is a fascinating look inside Dap’s history: his family life, childhood, neighborhood, and memorable experiences that led him to his current status as one of fashion’s most influential minds. The majority of his stories take place in his place of birth, Harlem. (This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the book’s title includes a double entendre; Dap was “made” in Harlem as are the custom pieces at his atelier.)
Dap was born into a poor family led by his mother, Lily Day, and his father, Robert Day who worked 3 jobs to support him and his 6 siblings. Despite his father’s grueling efforts, their family was never financially secure. This paired with being a growing young man introduced Dap early to hustling, often just to feed himself.
Dap was a master at dice games and would regularly con big gangsters out of thousands per night. That’s not to say he hadn’t been successful in other ventures; in fact, he was probably one of the first people in history to pull off credit card fraud.
He acquired a credit card making machine through a friend then created cards and used them to buy jewelry overseas to sell. (That plot landed him in a Caribbean prison for a few months but hey, for that one scheme he got caught, he got away with hundreds of others!)
Whenever Dap fell on hard times, he resorted back to gambling as a source of income. The profits from his gambling career actually financed his first atelier in Harlem.
It was at his first clothing boutique that Dapper Dan became a cultural icon.
“The Shop That’s Never Closed”
Dubbed ”the shop that’s never closed”, Dapper Dan’s opened in 1982 and it stayed open 24/7 to catch Harlem high rollers at all times. Customers would come to his shop at 10 p.m. or 4 a.m. and chat with Dap while his tailors took their measurements.
See, Dap knew the streets and he knew who ruled them. He knew gangsters determined trends (until rappers eventually took over) and he knew what they liked.
His customers craved clothing that spoke to their high status while being trendy. Luxury stores like Gucci and Louis Vuitton didn’t cater to them; those brands didn’t even offer extensive lines of men’s outerwear at the time.
Dapper Dan’s Niche
It was in the space between his deep connections with those in Harlem and the lack of appealing selection from luxury brands that Dapper Dan found his niche: Lavish, custom-made apparel with prominent logos displayed.
The term ”logomania” had not yet been coined, but its conception is entirely thanks to Dapper Dan.
Dap made garments unlike anything being produced by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Fendi or any other luxury fashion house. Their trends at the time meant all logos were hidden or on the interior of garments.
Dap took those suckers and stuck them everywhere outside. When he started this pursuit, he would go to the Gucci store and buy every garment bag in stock for fabric. (They were the only item in the store that displayed the interlocked double G’s prominently.)
As more orders came in and each customer wanted something original and specific to them, Dap started producing his own prints displaying luxury brands’ logos.
He made pieces like no other designer was making: Louis Vuitton suit jackets with a tan LV monogram repeated all over dark brown leather, leather trench coats with interlocking double G’s on their entire length. He even wrapped his red Jeep in matching MCM-imprinted leather.
No one made clothes like Dap. No one had a pulse on what trendsetters wanted and delivered every single time.
Dapper Dan’s became a destination for people to visit when they needed pieces for music videos, photoshoots and red carpets. Eventually, his store became so popular, luxury fashion houses started sniffing around.
MCM and Fendi conducted raids on the store and the latter pursued legal action that resulted in Dap going broke. He lost his shop and entered a depressive period that almost resulted in losing his home had it not been for his wife, June.
Once he was ready, Dap bounced back. He started by operating a table in a tourist hot spot among hundreds of other vendors. He would pay local kids to help him out as an effort to keep them from the streets, and together they would sell thousands of items.
With his unmatched eye for trends, Dap sold fresh garments based on brands that were gaining popularity like Tommy Hilfiger and Guess. His work even caught the attention of Tommy Hilfiger’s son who requested a meeting with Dap which he declined; he referenced his need to work on his own terms for his refusal.
His instincts were spot-on. Even now, major fashion houses profit off of Dapper Dan’s innovative designs. Had he worked for Tommy Hilfiger it would have been more of the same.
Dapper Dan Today
Today, Dapper Dan is a cultural icon. His work can be found in museums like the Smithsonian Institution and MoMA (to name a few), red carpets like the Met Gala, multimillion dollar concerts like Beyoncé’s, and everywhere else haute couture lives.
In 2018 he opened a new atelier with Gucci called Dapper Dan of Harlem where custom orders can be placed. His memoir is a New York Times bestseller and there’s a movie in the works based on it for which Dap is an executive producer.
Dapper Dan is finally receiving his flowers and they are long overdue.
However, none of these recent achievements are included in his memoir. Dapper Dan was a cultural icon before the worldwide recognition thus the acknowledgement from everyone outside of Harlem is unnecessary.
His accolades were already earned in the town he was raised, the town he got sober, the town in which he founded the first luxury atelier. All the credentials he needs are from his people in his neighborhood.
His memoir simply serves as an extension of the lesson he’s taught to anyone who will listen: you only need to rely on your strength of self to succeed.
