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During the Golden Era of Hip Hop, his clothing was in popular demand by the top tier representatives of this ever-evolving culture. Nobody cared that his monogram Gucci, Louis Vuitton, MCM, Fendi and other expensive brands were being bootlegged. Now in 2017, even the brands themselves want a piece of his knockoff empire.
In the past, these millennial brands weren’t so welcoming. In 1992, his business was effectively shut down by lawyers acting on behalf of Fendi. Fast forward to 2017, however, and things have changed. It was announced this week that Gucci would be collaborating with Dan to reopen his store and atelier, using Gucci’s fabrics with the Italian brand’s approval. A collaboration between Gucci and Dan will follow in the spring. Dan himself will star in the ad campaign.
In May, Gucci were criticized for a jacket included in the cruise collection which had an exact replica to one that Dan had created for Olympic runner Diane Dixon in 1989. Dixon took to social media to showcase the comparison, posting a picture of the jacket on the catwalk with one of her in the eighties with the caption “‘Bish’ stole my look! Give credit to @dapperdanharlem He did it FIRST in 1989!”
As the old saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘rn, join ’em.
