In the midst of hurricanes sweeping across the southeastern United States this weekend it seemed as if another happenstance event occurred. The New York Times released an article with details of the new business partnership between high fashion brand Gucci and the beloved New York fashion designer/tailor Dapper Dan. This should be exciting news right? Personally, in some ways it is because it takes me to the rhyme Jay Z spit on the 2001 Kanye West produced song 'Izzo'. "I'm overcharging niggas for what they did to the Cold Crush". This rhyme sums up the way Black culture, specifically hip hop, was corporately pimped by mainstream culture. For example, the pioneers of hip hop such as early 80s Hip Hop group the Cold Crush Brothers were never given their due respect or compensated the way they deserved to be by the corporate world. This is the case with Dapper Dan.

Daniel Day, known as Dapper Dan, opened his legendary store with the same moniker in 1982 in Harlem, NY. It was innovative in the fact that it catered to the Black community by offering clothes stitched and handmade with high fashion brand logos by Dapper Dan himself. He designed clothes during the golden age of Hip Hop. His clothes signified status in the Hip Hop culture because Dapper Dan's clothing allowed young black and brown people the chance to wear high end fashion. Sexy, trendy, and tailored to perfection these clothes were hip hop chic. The high end fashion stores in Manhattan were not and are still not very welcoming to young people of color so Dapper Dan's clothing symbolized in many ways that Black people can create an avenue for themselves as we often do when doors are literally closed on us. Dapper Dan stood out because aside from high fashion contemporaries, he created upholstery for vehicles and luggage too. Therefore, these qualities made him a household name in the Hip Hop world and he became the go to for a range of celebrities and well known figures such as: Mike Tyson, Eddie Murphy, Eric B and Rakim, infamous Harlem drug lord AZ, and others who have left their imprint on Black culture and pop culture overall. In 1992, Day closed Dapper Dan's doors after a decade of clothing Hip Hop and cementing his name in fashion for decades to come, and began designing, customizing, and tailoring clothes privately.

Day has continued to stay relevant in the Hip Hop culture for his expertise and high level skill set in fashion years after closing Dapper Dan's in Harlem. Celebrities and those with memories of Dan's creations still hire him to this day to clothe them. However, Day's name came to the forefront this past May when a tall, slim model of color walked down a Florence runway in a Gucci bomber jacket extremely similar to the bomber jacket Day had designed for Olympian Diane Dixon in 1989. However, the difference was Day used Louis Vuitton's logo instead. Once pictures of the May fashion show surfaced the internet, Black twitter angrily posted tweets expressing anger of the fashion world, specifically Gucci, appropriating Black culture for the numerous time.

Dixon, who had the bomber jacket commissioned by Day in 1989, spoke out against Gucci on Instagram. Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele later called the piece a "homage" to Day and said he has paid homage to other artists or designers in previous collections. However, it seems as if due to Black twitter calling out Gucci's obvious appropriation of Day's clothing that Gucci wanted to smooth things over with Day to quiet down the backlash it was receiving. In the months following the May show, Gucci extended an olive branch to Day and met with him in Harlem. This eventually would turn into what is in the works of being developed currently: a second Dapper Dan's which will be ‘sponsored’ by Gucci. Also, in the works is a collaboration between Gucci and Day on a collection that will be exclusively sold in Gucci stores this upcoming year.

Steven Stoute, who is an executive and founder of the agency Translation that brought Gucci and Day to the negotiating table, says they are "bringing Gucci to Harlem." However, this Harlem is not the same Harlem it was back in the heyday of Dapper Dan's. This new Harlem is gentrified and has a Whole Foods in a previously very arid food desert. This new Harlem's rental property's prices have risen steeply over the past 15 years, forcing the once majority Black community to shrink in size steadily. But aside from that, Stoute's statement makes it seem like Gucci is doing Day a favor instead of the other way around.

Recognition for Black people's contributions in the world is seldom given and the fashion industry is not the only culprit of this. Take a look at the 2016 film ‘Hidden Figures’ which tells the story of three African American female NASA employees who without their expertise and intelligence America wouldn't have been able to land a man on the moon. The current recognition is great, but most people grew up never hearing about these three women in history class and didn't find out their role in one of the greatest moments of American history until last year. Seriously? The time it took for these three Black women to finally get their credit was literally three quarters of the average American's life span. Therefore, for the Black community to not to criticize Gucci's response to this situation is to ignore the greater problem of cultural appropriation in our society. It is as if Gucci is putting a Gucci print Band-Aid on a deep wound that requires serious medical attention.

My question to Michele is why didn’t he approach Day before this social media backlash from their May fashion show. Why did it take them being dragged throughout social media for them to try and make things right? The amount of time it took for any major brand from the fashion world to approach Day and cement a partnership with him took more than just the time between now and the May 2017 fashion show. It took almost thirty years. This situation seems less happenstance the more it is examined, and it seems more like Gucci putting hush money over the situation to keep from addressing a wider problem that is a symptom of White supremacy. The symptom being that Black contributions to popular culture are not given the proper credit from the jump. It appears that they did not want to deal with what would have been an even bigger public relations nightmare had they not appeased to millennials collectively using their voices for the greater good. It always feels good to be recognized for achievements, but at the same time the approval of those duplicating the original shouldn't be able to phase the work's innate value. Yes, Day used the logos of major fashion houses to sell his own goods, but that was out of a need in the market he was selling to. Therefore, he did what any other savvy entrepreneur would do, which is to make a lane for themselves and their product. He also designed pieces that brand names are duplicating thirty years later, making him ahead of his time. This would contradict Mr. Stoute's statement that Gucci is being brought to Harlem. As a matter of fact it can be said Harlem, the mecca of Black culture, is being brought to the fashion world. For over thirty years Day has been selling more than just clothes with brand names young people of color wanted to own. He was selling them acceptance. Acceptance that young people of color sought and are still searching for from these brands in hopes of being seen as equals in a world that deems them as less than equal.

Of course there are pros to this newfound business partnership. For starters, an icon of Hip Hop culture is finally getting the credit he deserves. I understand why some may say, "Why are you still complaining? He is working with Gucci now and will be even more rich and famous than he was before." But that is the point. He shouldn't need the approval of Gucci for us to feel better about this problem that continues to happen whether it is swept under the rug or gets the attention of Black Twitter. Regardless of Gucci paying Day homage, my respect goes to Mr. Day and his family because they have used this situation to their advantage and made into a win for them. Time can only tell if this will be a win for the culture. Although, I criticized Mr. Stoute’s statement previously I still commend him for bridging the gap between the corporate world and the culture. But at the same time the most important value is the value we place on ourselves not what others place on us. The problem a lot of times is that the world does not see the contributions people of color continuously make because the value society has placed on us is not the same value we give ourselves. Although I want to consider this as a win for the culture, in the back of my head I keep thinking about the Gucci printed Band-Aid put on this deep wound and that it can only keep it covered for so long.