Monday, May 29, 2017, Gucci released its 2018 Resort Collection and it appears that some of the designs may have been poached from Black fashion influential Dapper Dan. The designs come from the creative direction of Alessandro Michele (who has been the creative director of Gucci since 2015), who is known for transforming Gucci’s signature look into 70s retro-glam.
The latest resort show stayed true to Michele’s creative desires and one design specifically has garnered a substantial amount of attention in the last 24+ hours.
A brown fur with oversized shoulder “puffs” that are monogrammed with the Gucci logo seem to have an undeniably similar appearance to a brown fur that was worn in the 1980s by Harlem tailor Dapper Dan that used Louis Vuitton monograms.
Dapper Dan is best known for taking the goods of luxury items and refurbishing them into his own designs. Most notably for rappers Eric B. and Rakim on the cover of their album Paid in Full from 1987. Dan’s business was a success but was ultimately shut down by an anti-counterfeiting squad who believed he was guilty of infringing upon trademarked materials.
The controversy over Michele’s alleged counterfeiting of Dan’s designs began on Twitter:
Sorry Alessandro but Dapper Dan is gonna need his credit pic.twitter.com/O7tkjOgIjV
— j (@gucciandior) May 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/TheFashionLaw/status/869599286023012353
this hits home, especially after viewing Gucci's resort collection & seeing absolutely no credits towards the style icon Dapper Dan. pic.twitter.com/7ZNwgaLlaD
— real psychic girl shit??✨ (@amberthealchmst) May 30, 2017
The cause for concern aroused by this controversy has to do with whether or not Dapper Dan legally agreed to Michele’s usage of his design. Signs so far point towards the idea that he did not, and was unaware that the brown puffed fur would be featured in the show.
Interestingly, Gucci’s most recent Pre-fall campaign featured a plethora of black models to depict a party full of 70s disco kids, but it seems that this may have only been a strategic marketing tool. The Fashion Law said it most eloquently: Gucci’s history of using almost exclusively white models in lieu of embracing diversity does not mean the brand cannot undergo a meaningful, lasting change in terms of its casting preferences. However, such a history – paired with the cyclical, trend-driven nature of casting, as well as fashion’s tendency for one-off diversity ploys – makes it a little less likely that that is the case. Black people and their aesthetic have always been an overwhelming influence for designers, but Gucci’s usage of Black people may possibly have a more intense fervor than seen before.
10 out of 115 looks in the Cruise 2018 show used Black models.
It can be claimed that Black or African-American is synonymous with style, and if that is so how could Gucci think they could possibly get away with stealing from African-Americans without anyone noticing?
Maybe because everyone else does it.
