--- description: Find out why Dapper Dan is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Dapper Dan: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc977f379cc6c4cf5/698a12554ee2625522317ef2/time-100-Dapper-Dan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Dapper Dan by Missy Elliott  Portrait of Harlem fashion designer Dapper Dan. Portrait of Harlem fashion designer Dapper Dan.Kevin Trageser—Redux [Dapper Dan](https://www.instagram.com/dapperdanharlem/?hl=en "undefined") is the blueprint for our culture in hip-hop. He defined fashion in “the hood” and in celebrity culture. According to him, _dapper_ no longer belonged just to Wall Street and business professionals; Dan claimed the term for the Black community. The first outfits of his that I remember were on the cover of Eric B. and Rakim’s album _Paid in Full_—they were refreshing, a blend of hood and expensive. Then I began to see iconic looks from his creative mind on artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Salt-N-Pepa, and even on boxers like Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather. I realized in watching Dan how truly inspiring he was—he never stopped working and always remained diligent to his craft. His influence extends far past his defining style; he opened the first couture atelier ever [in Harlem](https://time.com/3589404/meet-harlems-official-street-photographer/ "undefined") and stood up to racial [discrimination in the fashion industry](https://time.com/5837372/andre-leon-talley-the-chiffon-trenches/ "undefined"). Now, he has a [groundbreaking collaboration collection with Gucci](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/07/01/magazine/dapper-dan-hip-hop-style.html "undefined"). With so many years in the game, he remains a culture leader, but he has stayed true to himself, and that will never go out of style. _Elliott is a Grammy Award-winning singer and producer_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888496/dapper-dan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888496/dapper-dan/"},"headline":"Dapper Dan","datePublished":"2020-09-22T19:34:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:37.646Z","description":"Find out why the fashion designer is one of the most influential people of 2020, according to Missy Elliott.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888496/dapper-dan/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Artists"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc977f379cc6c4cf5/698a12554ee2625522317ef2/time-100-Dapper-Dan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc977f379cc6c4cf5/698a12554ee2625522317ef2/time-100-Dapper-Dan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888496/dapper-dan/","name":"Dapper Dan"}}]}] ```