Dapper Dan, Harlem Couturier

1989

Dapper Dan helped define hip hop’s fashion style.

Harlem native Dapper Dan is a leading voice in fashion. He is best known for applying luxury-brand logos to New York City streetwear, creating a look that became popular among hip-hop artists and fans. Dapper Dan’s use of repeated motifs and his tailored, original creations were eventually copied by the larger fashion world.

André Leon Talley described Dan as a fashion icon with an impressive ability to bridge seemingly disparate styles and tap into cultural trends: “What James Baldwin is to American literature, Dapper Dan is to American fashion. He is the ultimate success saga, an iconic fashion hero to multiple generations, fusing fashion with high sartorial elegance.”