Ever the sartorial statement maker, Dapper Dan returned to his African roots at the 2025 Met Gala in a black and white zoot suit emblazoned with the mythical Ghanaian bird symbol, the Sankofa.
“This is my third time here and this is the most important of my career… because I get the opportunity to praise us. I had to come here and represent culture,” the author and godfather of hip-hop fashion (né Daniel R. Day) told Met Gala co-hosts Ego Nwodim and singer Teyana Taylor. “I said, ‘I need to bring something here tonight to take us back, so I brought the Sankofa.’ My theme of the night is Sankofra and the true Harlem Dandy era, which I date to the Harlem Renaissance [in the 1920s and 1930s].”
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According to sankofa.org, the nonprofit founded by the late Harry Belafonte, the symbol is “deeply rooted in the wisdom of Ghana’s Akan people, depicts a bird turning its head backward to retrieve an egg — a reminder that true progress demands that we draw from the lessons of the past.”
The 80-year-old designer, whose memoir is being adapted for the big screen by Jerrod Carmichael, continued, “I’m wearing a zoot suit that personifies the Harlem Renaissance and the Sankofa… which symbolize[s] we need to go back, which is what I did to get to where I am today. So everything I’m trying to say today is, ‘How do we bring the culture up and how do we go back and get what we need to get it back here?'”
In his 304-page book, Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem, Day recalled going from a “dirt poor” hustler who shoplifted, gambled, engaged in credit card fraud and battled drug addiction — and serving jail time along the way — to becoming a celebrity-loved designer who would later collaborate with Gucci (who he also called out for not crediting him for its 2018 cruise collection).
Day became renowned for his eponymous Harlem atelier, where he reworked Louis Vuitton garment bags into tailored suits, transformed cherry red MCM-print leather into automobile upholstery and created Gucci-inspired jackets for the rap duo Eric B. & Rakim, putting him on the radar of rap royalty.
His “knock-ups” of logo-emblazoned luxury designer pieces have been worn by Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Jam Master Jay and Naomi Campbell (to name just a few).
TheMet Gala, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual fundraiser, celebrates the Costume Institute’s spring fashion exhibition. 2025’s exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” draws inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 bookSlaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. To adhere to this evening’s theme, guests and celebrity stylists are tasked with interpreting the accompanying dress code: “Tailored for you.”
This year’s Met Gala co-chairs were Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Williams, while LeBron James — who was unable to attend the event — was named honorary chair.
Check outTHR‘s fullMet Gala 2025 coverage, including thered carpet arrivals.
