Dapper Dan (designer)

Daniel R. Day (born August 8, 1944), known as Dapper Dan, is an American fashion designer and haberdasher from Harlem, New York.

Dan was born in Harlem, New York, in 1944, and he was born at home with his grandmother as a midwife.

In the 1960s, Dan worked for a Harlem newspaper called Forty Acres and a Mule, as he initially wanted to become a writer.

During this time he went through a life-style change and became a vegetarian.

In 1968–74, he toured Africa as part of the Columbia University and the Urban League academic program.

When Dan returned to New York in 1974, he decided to be a clothier, and first sold shoplifted items out of his car.

His store, Dapper Dan's Boutique, operated from 1982 to 1992 and is most associated with introducing high fashion to hip hop culture; its clientele includes Mike Tyson, Eric B.. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, and Jay-Z.

Dapper Dan's Boutique, located on 125th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues, opened in 1982, and at times was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Dan approached his designs through personal experience, specifically from his previous jobs.

Being a professional gambler taught him that what you wear will influence how people interact with you, so he used this unspoken language in his designs.

Dan's previous disciplines are also what prepared him to simultaneously be a creative director and businessman.

Additionally, he was an observer and approached his designs from a psychological point of view.

When working with a new client, he would ask himself "Who are they?"

and "What do they want?"

Dan originally planned to be a clothing wholesaler but soon faced prejudice as he ventured out.

He struggled to buy the textiles and furs he needed, as most companies refused to do business with him because of his race or location.

Instead of purchasing outfits to sell, he began teaching himself as much as he could about the industry so he could create his own designs from scratch.

He would go to the public library in Midtown to study fashion and symbols, thus where he became inspired by the power of timeless logos.

Selling his own furs was a way for Dan to get away from his old lifestyle, and he began designing furs specifically because they were a Harlem fashion staple.

Irving Chaiken, Dapper Dan's friend, taught Dan different manufacturing techniques for furs, ranging from chinchilla to fox.

Fred the Furrier became Dan's fur wholesale supplier, and Fred's brother was the one that persuaded Dan to expand into leather goods.

He noticed designers like Louis Vuitton and Gucci were only designing bags, wallets and luggage out of leather, but he wanted to make garments out of leather.

This is what essentially inspired him to make his infamous jacket for Diane Dixon.

Despite his connections, Dapper Dan struggled finding pattern makers and seamstresses that could properly execute his designs.

Dan himself couldn't sew and did not consider himself a tailor, despite how the media depicted him, but eventually he found a team he worked well with.

Dapper Dan referred to his designer inspired designs as knock-ups, as he felt they were too extravagant to be called knock-offs.

Dan states that he would never design anything that the luxury fashion houses would think of because his designs were too cutting edge.

He used fabrics he designed himself after teaching himself textile printing.

Notably, he invented a new process for screen printing onto leather, and would later also design jewelry and car interiors for luxury automobiles.

He grew up on 129th and Lexington Avenue with three brothers and three sisters.

His father, Robert, was a civil servant and his mother, Lily, a homemaker.

All nine of them lived in a three bedroom apartment.

He recalls horses and buggies still on the streets in his early childhood, in the post-World War II days of Manhattan.

By age 13, he was a skilled gambler; his success as a gambler helped him finance his first store.

Dapper Dan became tired of the street life after listening to a Malcolm X speech.

Malcolm X said, "If you want to understand the flower, study the seed."

This prompted Dan to indulge in studying at the Countee Cullen Library.

He soon went back to school and entered into an academic program sponsored by the Urban League and Columbia University.

In 2017, he launched a fashion line with Gucci, with whom he opened a second store and atelier, Dapper Dan's of Harlem, in 2018.

Dan is included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.