Dapper Dan

Daniel Day — Dapper Dan — created a fashion revolution from a storefront in Harlem that was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because the luxury fashion brands whose logos he reimagined wouldn't sell to Black customers. His custom leather goods, fur coats, and outfits adorned with oversized Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi logos became the uniform of hip-hop royalty in the 1980s and '90s — worn by LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Eric B. & Rakim, and countless others.

Born in Harlem in 1944, Day grew up in poverty and hustled his way through a series of jobs before discovering his talent for fashion. He opened Dapper Dan's Boutique on 125th Street in 1982, creating custom pieces that took luxury fashion's exclusivity and flipped it — making it accessible to Black and brown consumers who had been shut out of those brands.

The luxury houses eventually shut him down through lawsuits, and his shop closed in 1992. But fashion circles never forgot. In 2017, Gucci was accused of copying one of his iconic designs, leading to a public reckoning. The result was an unprecedented partnership: Gucci opened a Dapper Dan atelier in Harlem, making him the first person in the brand's 100-year history to have a co-branded store. His memoir, Made in Harlem, became a bestseller.