Gucci and Dapper Dan open new studio atelier in Harlem

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Dec 15, 2017

Gucci on Thursday unveiled Dapper Dan’s new Harlem studio on Lenox Avenue.
 
Dapper Dan announced on September that he would reopen his studio with help from Gucci, which is providing the tailor with raw materials, fabrics, prints, embroidered patches and hardware to produce bespoke pieces for clients.

 
The Italian fashion house and the tailor were in the news together this year after the Gucci Cruise 2018 show featured a jacket that was similar a piece that Dan created for Olympic gold medalist Diane Dixon in the 1980s. Many on the internet accused the fashion house of plagiarism, but Creative Director Alessandro Michele said his jacket is a homage to Dan’s piece.
 
Months after the snafu, Dapper Dan starred in Gucci’s men’s tailoring campaign, and Gucci announced the opening of the studio and a capsule collection that will debut with the Gucci fall 2018 collection.

The new studio atelier opens twenty-five years after the closing of Dapper Dan’s Boutique. The 4,700-square-foot space combines both Michele and Dan’s respective aesthetics, featuring velvet partitions, red boiserie wall panels, leather and wood pieces and vintage furniture, and Persian rugs, as well as historic details like crown moldings, decorative millwork and pocket doors that have been left intact from when the space was first designed by A.B. Van Dusen.
 
In addition, archival photos from Dapper Dan’s hang throughout the space to provide historical relevance.
 
The new studio will be open “by appointment only” from January 2018.