We woke up on May 30 to a barrage of Instagram posts regarding Gucci's 2018 Resort presentation that had little to do with the collection itself. The focus, however, was on one particular look — or one particular garment, we should say. Folks weren't pleased, as one balloon-sleeved jacket looked all too similar to an old design belonging to Daniel Day aka Dapper Dan.

What followed was an admission from Gucci that the jacket was "homage" — a very important piece of information that was *somehow* omitted from any original language from the show. What a funny coincidence!

Next came a New York Times profile of Dap. In it, he gave an update on his relationship with Gucci following the internet's collective outrage that once again, a POC creative had been pilfered from, sans credit. "We're at the table," he said.

A fashion season cycle later, we're seeing whatever conversation occurred at the likely proverbial "table" come to fruition. Released today, Dap fronts Gucci's new tailoring campaign. Gucci is also reportedly helping Dap bring back his Harlem atelier (fancy word for clothing store!).

In his native Harlem, Dap poses among his neighbors in a very street style-looking photo shoot. Why get mad when you can get rich, right? Secure that bag, Dan!

"The part about appropriation, Alessandro and I are part of two parallel universes," Dapper Dan said. "The magic that took place as a result of what he did was bringing these two parallel universes together. That opened a dialogue between us when we finally got in touch with each other. I found out how similar our experiences were, the way he grew up and the way I grew up, and how he was influenced by me. I was never apprehensive about what took place. The public was more up in arms than me."

Needless to say, he's not salty!

We can't wait to see what Dap's Harlem atelier will look like once it's realized. Kind of crazy that Gucci turned lemons into lemonade like this. But I guess if we're going to say one nice thing about Gucci, they used their bad PR (which was deserved) and turned it into fashion's most ironic success story of the year. 

How do you feel about this new ad campaign?