Why Luxury Brands Should Collaborate More with ‘Small’ Designers
Words Jennifer Engmann
ShutterstockHip hop’s fashion tailor does it again, adding to his long list of the industry’s greatest rappers and musicians. Dapper Dan’s collaboration with Gucci continues to make waves as it did when it was first announced in 2017. Artists Saweetie and DojaCat sported custom pieces in their recent collaboration for their music video “Best Friend”, showing yet again the impact of designers like Dan who have continued to use their designs to support the culture.
It all started in Harlem, New York 1982, where Dan set up shop in the middle of what would be the home to some of the most famous names today in black American culture. This allowed Dan to see first-hand the growth of hip hops influence across America and eventually the world. These same people such as, Run DMC, Slick Rick and LL Cool J, would be wearing none other than a custom-made Dapper Dan design.
In the 80’s and 90’s the luxury logo-mania style, led Dan to teach himself how to print these same European luxury brand’s logos on his fabrics and leathers. The draw to his designs were that they embodied the character of the person wearing it, so whether it was a gangster or an athlete, there was something for everyone, especially at a time when these same luxury brands designs had not yet caught up to the ready-to-wear cycle that we see now as Louis Vuitton’s first full collection only released in 1988. Dan himself expressed the rejection he faced from such brands even to the point of being prohibited from buying their goods, so this only made him more motivated to create designs for people who looked like him.
Times soon changed as two decades later after one of his infamous designs, a balloon sleeved jacket with a mahogany fur centre made for Olympic track runner Diane Dixon back in 1989, had appeared on the runway of Gucci’s show in 2017, but remade Gucci style. Social media picked up on the blatant similarity to the Dapper Dan original, so rather than deny the comparison, Gucci took the step to not only pay homage to Dan but also offer up an opportunity to collaborate on a collection.
However, must it be on the reliance of social media pundits to always call out these large companies every time they have made a blatant attempt to make money off of these same small designers’ creations. In a time where the whole world has been put under siege by the pandemic which has affected the luxury fashion houses and smaller designers alike, the opportunity to be more attentive to and to support new talent has come. As the fashion industry continues to realign itself during these uncertain times, the need to collaborate with the very people who have a closer connection to their community would not only help new talent rise up, but also create much needed opportunities to break down the walls that seemingly keep small designers on the outskirts of the industry with little to no recognition.