


In 2017, he launched a fashion line with Gucci and opened another store in 2018 called Dapper Dan’s of Harlem. Rachel Lifter, assistant professor of fashion studies at Parsons School of Design told Fashion Beans, “Dapper Dan has a term for what he did in the 1980s: ‘blackinize fashion.’ He drew on a long legacy of black style as both a form of self-realisation and a statement of political-aesthetic resistance.”ĭapper Dan’s Boutique was in operation from 1982-1992.
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So, turning lemons into lemonade, he taught himself how to create designs from scratch.Ĭopying designs from high fashion labels, he started designing for hip hop artists in 1985 when he first styled LL Cool J, and is considered the person who first introduced the hip hop world to luxury fashion.

Originally wanting to be a clothing wholesaler, the designer faced racism from various companies who refused to do business with him due to the color of his skin. The designer introduced high fashion to the world of hip hop with counterfeit designs from high-end labels like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.ĭapper Dan opened his boutique in 1982, but not before he started selling shoplifted items from his car back in 1974. One of the most famous designers to come out of 1980’s hip hop fashion movement was Daniel Day, or “Dapper Dan” as he came to be called. A post shared by blaqrob on at 10:23pm PSTįirst created in 1979 by Carl Zalloni, an Austrian eyewear designer, CAZAL 607 glasses became hugely popular with the hip hop set when Run DMC’s Darryl McDaniels started sporting them.ĬAZAL glasses are still worn by many famous artists today, including Beyonce and Jay Z.
