Legendary Fashion Icon, Dapper Dan opened a store on 125th street in Harlem where he pioneered high end street wear in the 80s. His memoir, Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem tells the story of how he became an icon, but he tells the Tom Joyner Morning Show crew that “this is a story about us.” He credits “Black folks in Harlem and Black folks in general,” for helping him become so successful.
He became interested in fashion at a young age because he says, “when you’re walking around Harlem with holes in your shoes you get very creative.” And once he became an adult and the high end stores wouldn’t take him seriously he decided he was “going to figure out how to make that stuff that they make better than them;” and he did just that. He became so big that big brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi and MCM tried to steal his designs and shut him down.
The memoir tells his whole story and has already been picked up for a movie.
