There’s something cryptic about the revue Dapper Dan.
First, its name. In addition to being a Gomina brand in the 1940s, Dapper Dan was also a hip-hop tailor in Harlem with a store on 125th Street in New York. He dressed all the biggest names in rap and sports in the 1980s and ‘90s. You might expect some connection to the revue, but with its matte covers, rectangular typeface and majestic portraits of men, as well as its promise of “Men’s Fashion & Philosophy,” we’re a long way from Harlem.
Second, its origin: Greece. In 2014, the revue released its 10th semiannual issue. Dapper Dan emerged from a country deep in crisis. It’s hard not to see a link between the seriousness of its content, from its target readers—”men with ideas and an ideology”—to the series of portraits of Hedi Slimane, an interview with a Greek poetry editor, a designer Martin Margiela, a modern lute player who worked on the last Jim Jarmusch film, and the grim national context. Perhaps one could see it as the revival of ancient European wisdom, observing unique and elitist objects.
Readers will be struck by the somewhat grandiose simplicity of the layout—120 thick pages, printed entirely in black and white—and seduced by the quality of the interviews as well as the images. It never prescribes, only points us in the direction of what has caught its attention. The portrait of the contemporary man it paints is calm, curious, seductive for reasons unrelated to clothing or lifestyle. That’s where Dapper Dan’s true elegance lies. The consistent quality of the issues owes itself not only to sure-handed artistic direction, but also to the “open” erudition of its editorial content.
