Revisiting Harlem

The world we live in today, is more informed, more connected, and more inclusive than ever before. And season after season, Gucci is the one legacy fashion house that is leading the way

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On Shilo Shiv Suleman: Pastel mint candy wool silk halter neck dress with self fabric bow details; Ivory cotton knit knee-high socks with rhombus GG Needle punch detail; Jackie 1961 handbag; Mid heel platform sandal in silver laminated leather by Gucci

“Dapper Dan is a cultural and historical figure. While other conglomerates were trying to shut this icon down, Gucci swept in, providing him with a platform to create the iconic Gucci x Dapper Dan trend, says Tarun Panwar, who features in this shoot which, is the Italian behemoth's take on the Harlem Renaissance that gave the world geniuses and LGBTQIA+ icons like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Ethel Waters and Florence Mills, Alain LeRoy Rocke, L.S Alexander Gumby, and Richmond Barthé.

In his 1993 essay, “The Black Man’s Burden”, Henry Louis Gates Jr. wrote that the Harlem Renaissance, “was surely as gay as it was black”. And yet, the queerness of these geniuses has often gone unrecognised by the society.

Under creative director Alessandro Michele, the brand partnered with the Harlem icon, Dapper Dan, in 2017. Then, in 2018, with support from the fashion house, Dan opened an atelier in Lennox Avenue — the first ever luxury fashion store in Harlem. This is just one of the few steps that Gucci has taken in cultural and social revolutions throughout history, making it one of the most esteemed legacy fashion houses in the world.