Dapper Dan vowed to hold Gucci accountable for their recent racist scandal involving a sweater that resembles blackface, and he did so in the best way he knows how.
Dan’s custom designs were on the backs of seven influential celebrities at the 2019 Met Gala in New York City on Monday. 21 Savage, Omari Hardwick, Regina Hall, Bevy Smith, Ashley Graham, Karlie Kloss, and Dapper Dan himself were all sporting the Harlem fashion icon’s designs to represent their camps last night.
Dan told Elle.com that he was addressing the issues in his community through fashion. “People in the community are like, ‘Man, leave them! Leave Gucci and all this stuff.’ They don’t understand. Until I make them understand the beauty of this, the significance of this, the importance of this…”
It wasn’t long ago the Italian luxury brand shut down the designer’s store for using their logo with authorization. Now he has a partnership with a company, and flooded the 2019 Met Gala with his designs, which marked his first Met.
“[Y]ou know who’s walking behind me?” Dan asked rhetorically. “Nelson Mendela’s walking behind me, Jackie Robinson’s walking behind me, Martin Luther King, all of those people are behind me. All those people who’ve suffered the slings and arrows of oppression in those difficult moments.”
Scroll down to check out some of his styles below:
