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Legendary fashion icon Dapper Dan is on track to make history as the first Black designer to receive the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s (CFDA) Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, Complex reported.
Dan rose to fame in the 1980s and early 90s for creating “knock-ups” of luxury pieces inspired by some of the biggest fashion brands in the world including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi. The seminal designer hand-crafted the elaborate designs for a number of famous New Yorkers right from the heart of his studio located in Harlem. Dan used his impeccable sewing skills to create high fashion couture pieces that included custom jogger suits, blazers, and even fur emblazoned with logos from the major fashion brands. His influential store, Dapper Dan’s Boutique, operated from 1982 to 1992 and is known for introducing high fashion to the hip hop world. His clients over the years included Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J, and Jay-Z among others.
In 2017, Dan launched a fashion line with Gucci that featured ready-to-wear items and accessories sporting his signature design style. The success of the collection helped him to open a second store, Dapper Dan’s of Harlem, in 2018.
The 77-year-old took to social media to share his excitement about being a recipient of the coveted award.
“Isn’t it ironic how the fashion world says that Dapper Dan won the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award without ever having a runway show?” he wrote. “The streets of Harlem have been my runway for 35 years. Isn’t that where the major luxury brands got their inspiration from? Maybe logo-mania is an illusion,” Dan continued. “Thank you Harlem, I love you! Thank you to the CFDA for making me the first Black designer to win this lifetime achievement award. Harnessing the Dapper Dan brand to Gucci, mounted it on a global track, now the whole world knows what Harlem always knew, that the Dapper Dan brand is a thoroughbred brand.”
Dapper Dan will be joined at the CFDA Awards by other prominent Black designers being honored and nominated, including Jerry Lorenzo, Grace Wales Bonner, Telfar Clemens, and Virgil Abloh.
The 2021 CFDA Awards are set to take place on November 10 at The Pool Room in NYC.
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