Predictably debonair like the legendary hip-hop tailor himself, the Gucci-Dapper Dan collection reimagines Dan's ’80s and ’90s designs worn by rappers, boxers and bootleggers, alike, with a Guccified twist. There are tracksuits and bomber jackets in abundance with Gucci’s signature red-and-green palette running through them, and with Michele’s mythical emblems playing a role too. His now-typical trinkets and tokens are enlarged on gold chains and medallions featuring a lion head, the face of a Greek god, and the phrase e pluribus umum, which is Latin for “out of many, one” and symbolises the spirit of the collection.
And of course it’s all about the logo. Dan, born Daniel Day, shot to fame due to his use of luxury logos in his designs, and once came under fire for incorporating the Italian house’s double Gs. A new yellow logo inspired by the original Dapper Dan store sign is stamped across T-shirts, caps and bumbags, while the GG logo is screen-printed on leather, velour, nylon and jacquard knits.
The collection is modelled by Harlem natives and models in a series of photographs shot by Ari Marcopoulos, that pay homage to archive imagery uncovered of people wearing bespoke Dapper Dan pieces during his heyday. Dan himself is absent, having starred in a Glen Luchford-shot Gucci menswear tailoring campaign when the collaboration was first announced last year. But, for the man whose store was shut down in 1992 by lawyers acting on behalf of Fendi, this is quite the comeback. As well as welcoming him into the Gucci family, the brand is helping Dan to re-open his atelier with financial backing and the supply of its materials – this time with full approval. What a difference three decades makes.
See the collection, which is priced from £110 to £5,180 and available to buy from Gucci.com and select stores worldwide now, below.
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