On Giving Tuesday, Harlem legend Dapper Dan and Gap have come together for another collection. This comes quite sometime after the sold-out “DAP GAP” hoodies that seemed to break the internet. “When Gap came to me, this partnership signified a breakout for the culture,” the fashion legend shared in a statement. He also adds that the latest campaign is a love letter to Harlem and his way of “continuing to propel our culture and community forward.”
“A breakthrough is when people finally find their space in areas they have never been before, but a breakout is when you take the culture and the people who created it and bring it around the world,” Dapper Dan adds.
The 18-piece collection includes logo hoodies, matching logo sweatpants in houndstooth print, a tote bag, baseball hats, socks, and iconographic ascots This time around there is also a category for kids. This upcoming range is filled with love for Harlem, where everything ignited for Dapper Dan from his very beginnings of selling “knockoffs” to eventually designing pieces with Gucci.
The campaign is a beautiful representation of the Harlem community. Shot by Joshua Kissi, it features an array of creatives and entrepreneurs who make the bustling and creative neighborhood what it is. Comprised of newcomers and changemakers, the casting by Trevor Swain was spot on. Melba Wilson, owner of the beloved Harlem eatery Melba’s Restaurant, Felipe Luciana, a longstanding Harlem resident and an original member of defining collective The Lost Poets, Khary Lazarre White and Jason Warwin, co-founders of The Brotherhood Sister Sol, mother-daughter duo Starr Williams and Grey Iona all appeared. Williams and Iona are family members of Harlem’s Sylvia Soul Food. Elsewhere in the campaign, you’ll also spot content creator and wardrobe stylist, Gabriela Lopez Castillo, poet and Harlem native, Chaz Anthony, culinary creator and curator of COMMUNION, and model and Harlem native, Malaye Diakhate. Many of these cast members are good friends of Dapper Dan.
In honor of announcing the collection of Giving Tuesday, Gap is donating $100,000 to The Brotherhood Sister Sol which was founded in Harlem. The organization is a Black-led social justice and youth development nonprofit helping Black and Latinx youth claim power in their history and identity.
The latest “DAP GAP” collection will first be released on December 4 in Harlem at 9:30 a.m. ET. It will then go live on December 5 on gap.com and in-store at 13 different Gap stores. The collection ranges in sizes toddler 2T to adult XXXL and retails from $25 to $128.