The people appreciated that although he was not making legitimately branded goods, his designs were top-notch.ĭan had tapped into the fascination people had with brands and branded goods, without particular care for aesthetics. His clothes were known as knock-ups instead of knock-offs. LL Cool J (in red jacket) was among Dan’s clientele. Thus, among African-American youth in underprivileged areas, Dan became popular.ĭrug dealers and crime bosses patronised his wears too. His clientele in the mid and late 1980s were rappers as hip-hop culture had been birthed at that time. The biggest selling point for Dan – in fact, the reason he has become such a historic figure in recent American fashion history – was his confident but illegal use of logos belonging to established brands such as Fendi, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. He taught himself industry skills such as textile printing and even invented a new way for clothmakers to print onto leather. He wanted to make the clothes all by himself but he explains that textile wholesalers refused to sell him furs for instance, because he is black and coming from a part of New York they were not enthused about. Indeed, it would seem Dan’s attempt at an honest lifestyle and livelihood must have been made a bit harder by those he would have done business with. A good amount of the things he sold were also shoplifted from stores in New York. The only thing on his mind was to be a clothier.īut Dan had to start the only way he knew: out of the trunk of his car. He had given up on alcohol, smoking, drugs and had also become a vegetarian. ![]() When he returned to New York in 1974, Dan was a changed man. ![]() Dan would later write in his memoir, Made in Harlem, these apprenticeships helped shape his perspective on fashion as well as his understanding of the world.
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