In just a few years, GAP seems to have made the comeback that most brands who saw their heyday in the 1990s could only dream about. After announcing a partnership with Kanye West in 2020, and delivering the first Yeezy GAP jackets and hoodies last year, the collaborative pairing seems to have found a reliable release cadence. The Yeezy relationship isn’t the only culturally profound collaboration to come out of GAP in recent days. Over the last several years, GAP has collaborated with a range of partners, from Atelier & Repairs to Ev Bravado. The newest face added to GAP’s roster of collaborators is Dapper Dan, Harlem’s couturier “King of Knock-Offs” and official Gucci collaborator. So far, just one piece has been released as a part of the GAP x Dapper Dan collaboration, a hoodie that flips GAP’s logo.
The GAP x Dapper Dan DAP Hoodie takes the apparel brand’s classic GAP logo and puts the Harlem couturier’s spin on it. The hoodie’s logo takes GAP’s traditional brand mark and swaps the “G” out with a “D”, which now reads “DAP” instead of “GAP.” Despite its relative simplicity, the GAP x Dapper Dan DAP Hoodie pulls together both party’s most emblematic design languages. For GAP, the hoodie is presented as a fluid re-platforming of their GAP logo, which was their most popular brand mark during the 1990s. Dapper Dan’s touch is made evident through the official alteration of the brand’s logo, calling out to the couturier’s historic inclination to flip the logos of luxury brands during the 1980s. This GAP x Dapper Dan DAP Hoodie is just the first delivery of the partnership and was released in March of 2022 in five different colors.
For those unfamiliar with Dapper Dan, he is one of the most influential style icons to hail from New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Born Daniel Day in 1944, Dapper Dan enrolled in an Urban League-sponsored Columbia University program, where he was given the opportunity to travel to Africa. Upon his return, Dapper Dan pursued an interest in fashion, opening a 24 hour store in Harlem. With the majority of Day’s garments being made-to-order, the couturier was able to rework and recreate the famous monogram prints of brands like Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, earning Dapper Dan the title of “King of Knock-Offs.”
By the late ‘80s, Dapper Dan’s work was exploding and the world began to take notice. On the positive side, Dapper Dan’s clientele included rising stars from the worlds of Hip-Hop and Sports, ranging from Eric B. and Rakim to Mike Tyson and Diane Dixon. In 1987, Eric B. & Rakim wore Dapper Dan-designed pieces for the cover of their Paid in Full album. The publicity was not all good and it wasn’t long before the flipped luxury brands began to take notice. In 1992, a Fendi-led lawsuit resulted in a raid on Dapper Dan’s boutique leading to the store’s closure.
For years after closing down his store, Dapper Dan was shunned by the fashion industry, though he still worked as an outfitter for athletes like Floyd Mayweather. In recent years, however, Dapper Dan has seen a resurgence in popularity, leading to his reacceptance inthe fashion world culminating with anofficial collaboration with Gucci in 2018. His partnership with Gucci has been one of conscience, holding the brand accountable for their missteps. In 2019, the luxury brand ran a balaclava down the runway that shared a resemblance to blackface, which led Dapper Dan to meet in an official capacity with Gucci’s president to talk through what it would mean to hold themselves accountable for something like that.
Now late into his 70s, the couturier’s resurgence in popular culture has shifted beyond his work and partnerships into a larger focus on his life. Currently, the 77 year old creative is working alongside Sony as the executive producer of his own biopic, which will be based off of his forthcoming book from Random House. These two endeavors, and their inevitable reignition of Dapper Dan’s current culture visibility make GAP’s partnership with him an even better long-term opportunity. In the near future, It’s likely we’ll see this collaborative relationship turn into full collections, making the couturier’s creative vision accessible on a scale similar to that of Yeezy.
Buy & Sell the GAP x Dapper Dan DAP Hoodie in every color on StockX below.
