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Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem - Daniel R. Day - 2019
By: Daniel R. Day
Narrated by: Omari Hardwick, Daniel R. Day
Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-09-19
Language: English
Genre: Personal Memoirs
Publisher: Random House Audio
Format: mp3 64/44.1 stereo
Publisher's Summary
New York Times Best Seller
“Dapper Dan is a legend, an icon, a beacon of inspiration to many in the Black community. His story isn’t just about fashion. It’s about tenacity, curiosity, artistry, hustle, love, and a singular determination to live our dreams out loud.” (Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, 13th, and A Wrinkle in Time)
With his now-legendary store on 125th Street in Harlem, Dapper Dan pioneered high-end streetwear in the 1980s, remixing classic luxury-brand logos into his own innovative, glamorous designs. But before he reinvented haute couture, he was a hungry boy with holes in his shoes, a teen who daringly gambled drug dealers out of their money, and a young man in a prison cell who found nourishment in books. In this remarkable memoir, he tells his full story for the first time.
Decade after decade, Dapper Dan discovered creative ways to flourish in a country designed to privilege certain Americans over others. He witnessed, profited from, and despised the rise of two drug epidemics. He invented stunningly bold credit card frauds that took him around the world. He paid neighborhood kids to jog with him in an effort to keep them out of the drug game. And when he turned his attention to fashion, he did so with the energy and curiosity with which he approaches all things: learning how to treat fur himself when no one would sell finished fur coats to a Black man; finding the best-dressed hustler in the neighborhood and converting him into a customer; staying open 24 hours a day for nine years straight to meet demand; and, finally, emerging as a world-famous designer whose looks went on to define an era, dressing cultural icons including Eric B. and Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, Mike Tyson, Alpo Martinez, LL Cool J, Jam Master Jay, Diddy, Naomi Campbell, and Jay-Z.
By turns playful, poignant, thrilling, and inspiring, Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem is a high-stakes coming-of-age story spanning more than 70 years and set against the backdrop of an America where, as in the life of its narrator, the only constant is change.
Praise for Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem:
“Dapper Dan is a true one of a kind, self-made, self-liberated, and the sharpest man you will ever see. He is couture himself.” (Marcus Samuelsson, New York Times best-selling author of Yes, Chef)
“What James Baldwin is to American literature, Dapper Dan is to American fashion. He is the ultimate success saga, an iconic fashion hero to multiple generations, fusing street with high sartorial elegance. He is pure American style.” (André Leon Talley, Vogue contributing editor and author)
©2019 Daniel R. Day (P)2019 Random House Audio
Critic Reviews
“It’s easy now to take for granted the trail [Dapper Dan] blazed. . . . Detailed descriptions of his family’s tragic journey through poverty, the changing nature of his beloved and cursed neighborhood, and his adventures as a hustler are riveting.” (The New York Times)
“Dapper Dan is a blazing example of how, time after time, African American people have taken what others considered ‘nothing’ and, through sheer creativity and strong sense of self, made masterpieces. This incredible book captures his journey, his community, and his determination to create. Immerse yourself in the pages, and enjoy the opportunity to travel through a rare mind.” (Taraji P. Henson, Emmy- and Oscar-nominated actress)
“Dapper Dan is a dream maker from Harlem who carved out a piece of its royal cloth, sewed it up, and shared it with all of us, creating stars through his vision. Dap was there with the hood heroes and hood horrors, the joy, sunshine, and pain; he survived it all, and finally his book is hitting the streets, letting us all know how.” (Nas)
Editorial Review
Tailor-made for greatness
Fashion and writing are my two great loves, but they rarely combine to produce something electric. Dapper Dan’s memoir is an exception. Back in the 80s, his influential Harlem boutique was a magnet for rappers, athletes, and gangsters eager to “outfly” each other in his custom designer-logo remixes. Now 75, he reflects on a life of relentless resilience, from growing up poor to dabbling in drugs and hustling dice before a trip to a Liberian tailor—he was in Africa for the Rumble in the Jungle—became his lightbulb moment. His story is stuffed with history: from being jailed with one of Malcolm X’s assassins to outfitting hip hop legends and having his shop raided by a young lawyer named Sonia Sotomayor, the context is significant. But what I also appreciate is his infectious love of the transformational power of clothes, his deep understanding of their symbolism, and his self-taught method of “sciencing out” the design process. I can’t wait to hear the narration from actor and poet Omari Hardwick (if you missed him wearing Dapper Dan at the Met Gala: you’re welcome—and I’ll be first in line for the biopic, which is already in the works. —Kat J., Audible Editor
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