The GTCO Fashion weekend has come and gone but many have been left with great memories and also knowledge to take on the Fashion world.
The Fashion show is aimed at building enterprising businesses in the Fashion industry, showcases the designs of various budding and established fashion designers during the exhibition, Masterclasses where influencers and fashion designers giving insightful information on rising in the fashion industry and the major highlight which is the RUNWAY Show, where designers showcase their latest collections. One of the masterclasses features the Legend, Daniel Day also known as Dapper Dan.
Dapper Dan, a Harlem couturier known as the “king of knock-offs, gave a Masterclass on, “Positioning for Branding and Collaboration in the Fashion Industry. Dapper Dan made his name in the late ’80s and ’90s as the tailor who provided rap culture with its signature gangster-inspired style, reworking traditional luxury-house products to outfit a slew of emerging hip-hop stars, athletes and gamblers including the likes of LL Cool J, James Jackson and Floyd Mayweather. He returned to prominence in 2018 after a cultural appropriation scandal led Gucci to finance the rebirth of his business and include him in its diversity council.
Here are some key points mentioned during the masterclass, “Positioning for Branding and Collaboration Masterclass with Dapper Dan”
- Young designers can stay relevant by designing what the community wants. Always extract from your community to decide what to design.
- Don’t design fashion but design culture.
“I don’t dictate to the culture how they should look, I follow the culture wherever the culture goes. I don’t dictate it rather I embrace it and follow the culture.” - Black Media and Brands does not give adequate recognition to black designers. GTCO is the first International Brand that recognized my Brand.
- Less than 3% of Black people own luxury Brands but Over 80% of Luxury Brand items are owned by Black people. We should have more black people go into luxury fashion.
- Get design inspiration from items and the environment with African ism in it. For instance, African symbols are really not incorporated into our designs. We need to have that pride and identity in our own fashion and we need to incorporate our symbols.