About face as Gucci teams with Dapper Dan

After being put out of business by international fashion labels 23 years ago, New York hip-hop tailor Dapper Dan is back on the radar in a venture with Gucci.

Gucci Dapper Dan 3

Dapper Dan’s Boutique, founded by Daniel Day in Harlem in 1982, cut and spliced custom jackets, suits and other clothing splattered with luxury-goods logos, such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton. His clientele included hip-hop royalty such as LL Cool J and the members of Run DMC.

In 1988, a brawl in the shop between boxers Mike Tyson and Mitch Green not only made headlines, but drew the broader fashion world’s attention to the store and its design process, resulting in legal action that effectively put the tailor out of business in 1992, reports Quartz.

Now Gucci is helping to relaunch Dapper Dan’s as a by-appointment studio for custom pieces, reports the New York Times. For the boutique, set to open by year’s end, the Italian label is supplying materials for the clothes, and will collaborate with Dapper Dan on a capsule collection to be sold in its stores internationally.

Day is also starring as the face of Gucci’s new men’s tailoring ad campaign, shot around his Harlem home.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.