In the 1980’s, Harlem was the mecca of Hip-Hop fashion. At the forefront was designer “Dapper” Daniel Day who brought French luxury brands to life with a distinct street flavor.
Dapper Dan discussed his rise to style icon in a recent article with Dazed.
During the golden era of Rap, superstars like Salt-N-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One proudly wore the custom wears Dan crafted at his 125th street store. But before Hip-Hop became aware of his unique stylings, hustlers were his first ambassadors.
“They were my primary clientele, the look spread outside the hustler culture and was embraced by the whole rap world, and they just took it everywhere,” he confessed.
While the article does not list the street toughs by name, it is rumored that dealers such as Kelvin “50 Cent” Martin, Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, Azie “AZ” Faison and others introduced the shop to noted rappers.
In 1985 LL Cool J paid him a visit and his business skyrocketed. “He was just coming out,” Dab says, “and one of the gangster guys brought him in.”
Even though Dan’s signature was his flamboyant replicas of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and MCM, his furs were the items that kicked things off for him. “There were only three black furriers in the United States and I went to visit all three of them. I went and checked out their business and talked to them, and then I read all I could about the fur business.”
Years later Dan keeps a relatively low profile but still privately serves an a-list clientele that includes Floyd Mayweather (“Floyd has a good sense of what he wants”) and offers consultations.
Check out vintage Dapper Dan flicks in the following pages. You can read the Dazed article in its entirety here.
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Photo: Dapper Dan of Harlem
