Eric b and dapper Dan sitting on the stoop 36 years later after the intiatial meeting when he was teenager from the group Eric b and Rakim @therealdjericb photo [email protected]

This video is an example of what today’s post is about. Hip-Hop music and Hip-Hop fashion both presented by a powerful fashion house in Paris (LVMH). This moment was first created by Gucci(Dapper Dan/Gucci). This moment could be taking place with many luxury brands if misplaced activism would not have undermined the revolution in fashion with the “fuck” Gucci campaign. The black face incident with Gucci created a great amount of anger for people of color but also the window for great opportunities. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri came to Harlem and apologized. With that apology, Gucci presented a campaign of diversity and inclusivity and started the Changemakers program offering opportunities to black and brown people.(Gucci Equilibrium) It was at that moment when we (black and brown people) should have used that energy towards the other luxury brands to do the same thing instead of advocating a boycott that was not able to get us anything in return. Baseball, basketball, football, tennis, theater, and music. In all of these endeavors, we have been disrespected but we demanded a recourse. And now, in every one of them, we have a prominent presence. If we would have walked away, we would not have that impact in those fields that we have today. I wish I had a dollar for every time a black or brown person in those fields were called the N-word, I would be a multimillionaire. Black and brown people do not have the power to totally control how our culture is appropriated. We must get on the inside to profit from it. Everyone has a right to be an activist however if black and brown people inside the fashion industry don’t advocate for ourselves, activists outside the industry will take over our movement. It may well be with good intentions but we are the most qualified to speak for ourselves. I know I may stand alone in my views, however young people are depending on me to call it like I see it!

“By Any Means Necessary“ How Dapper Dan, then Virgil gained their places at the top of luxury fashion. With no way of climbing the staircase to high end fashion success from the streets of Harlem, I took the logos of European fashion houses and made them my own. I built “a brand out of brands.” Anyone who has ever listen to John Coltrane’s rendition of the song “My Favorite Things” or Luther Vandross’ rendition of the song “A House Is Not A Home” or Jam Master Jay and RUN DMC’s rendition of the song “Walk This Way” knows how people of color can take something that already exists and make it better. In music, it’s called Jazz, R&B, or Hip-Hop, and in fashion, it’s called logo mania. Logo mania is the Juneteenth of fashion. It’s the point when I introduced our cultural aesthetic to fashion that our culture didn’t even know I was the originator of. Logo mania is as popular today as it was when I started it in 1985. Gucci was the first European luxury brand to recognize my contribution to fashion as the originator of logomania and partnered with me to create a collection “Gucci X Dapper Dan.” Gucci’s recognition of my contribution to fashion and my 30 years of work is the reason I received the Geoffrey Beane Lifetime Achievement Award, fashion’s highest honor, and an award that no black man has ever received. When Gucci partnered with me, Louis Vuitton chose Virgil Abloh one year later(Hmmm…..🤔). Dapper Dan and Virgil Abloh going from the bottom of the food chain to the top made history. It all started from the sidewalks of Harlem and went to the runways of Paris and Milan. The revolution in fashion. Next: How changing the course of progress for black and brown people slowed down the revolution in fashion.

This article is dedicated to George G. M. James.

Remixing The Classroom is a book written by Randall Everett Allsup, a professor at Columbia University’s graduate school of Music. In it, he uses a program to teach the students how to teach themselves based on what he learned from Dapper Dan. He also referenced Snoop Dogg and how his approach to music has given us the impact we have today. The further, I rise the more I shall hurl down the rocks of truth until they are boulders crushing all the lies that hold down people of color in the fashion business. We cannot wait for Fashion Institute of Technology or Parsons School of Design or any other institution to teach us about fashion. That is like asking them to teach us how to be brown or black. To succeed, we have to teach ourselves. The first lessons we must learn is why black and brown fashion businesses fail. Every black and brown business has a moral obligation to let us know why they have failed or succeeded. I will not apologize for revealing the truth about brands when it is necessary to allow us to grow and prosper. To do less than that would be betrayal. I would go back to selling clothes on a table in Harlem as I have had to do in the past before I betray the people who made me who I am. We must make our global footprint in fashion as deep as the one we have made in music and sports. The connection will be explained in the next post. Coming Next: Virgil, Kanye and Dapper Dan; a vision for success.

You can’t blame Tommy Hilfiger for what he did, it was business. You can’t blame FUBU for what they did it was business. Tommy built an empire with his brand and sold it for billions. FUBU became the first black brand to make a major collaboration and generate a billion dollars. Before me, and before Virgil, FUBU laid down the plan that works, collaborations. They didn’t tell us it was a collaboration(For Us, By Us). That’s what led to the delusion of black success. Black brands emerge quickly but where are they today? I will elaborate in our next video.

A master in the hall of masterpieces. Jay-Z at The Louvre in Paris. Jay-Z has produced masterpieces in the music industry and because of Jay-Z, Kareem Biggs, and Emory Jones, the doors to creating masters from people of color in fashion are now open. We no longer have to worry about being stepped on or stepped over because we had no outlets in the fashion industry. The hat that Jay-Z is wearing is a collaboration between Dapper Dan and @planes that raised money for Roc Nation’s School of Music, Sports and Entertainment at Long Island University. All of the before mentioned are responsible for giving us an international platform in fashion.

Dapper Dan’s Success Secret: “Put Pride Over Ego” . I must continue to tell the story of what the struggle of the past was so that all who struggle today know that they too can achieve what I have achieved in fashion if they never give up. @arimelber

A$AP Rocky was part of the Fenty Beauty launch in 2020. In an earlier interview this year with GQ, Rocky shared that he has always had a fascination with the Gucci brand, with his first exposure being from his Harlem roots. “Absolutely. That’s exactly what it was. Just Dapper Dan. I think everybody’s introduction in the hood to luxury brands was because of Dapper Dan. The way he would put it together in the ‘80s was different.” - Asap Rocky, BET 2023

I bow down to the people who made it possible for all my achievements in fashion. Without the people’s support, designers of color will never be able to achieve their goals in fashion. “All Power To The People” I salute April Walker and Pat Cleveland, 2 goddesses in the fashion world!