Dapper Dan is a New York Giants fan. So when his agent approached him with the opportunity to collaborate with Pepsi on a special capsule tied to the start of the NFL season, he didn’t hesitate.
The Harlem-based designer and haberdasher worked with the beverage brand on a limited-edition collection to commemorate New York Fashion Week — the soft drink is the official soda beverage sponsor of the shows — and Thursday’s launch of the NFL season. It’s part of Pepsi’s season-long “Made for Football Watching” campaign, now in its second year, that encourages football fans to binge watch NFL games. Along with the return of national TV spots, this year’s campaign features “Football Is Calling,” digital content featuring “Billions” star and “Breaking Bad” alum David Costabile, alongside a new program that gives fans a chance to win NFL merchandise and prizes.
The Dapper Dan capsule will drop Thursday at 10 a.m. on MadeForFootballWatching.com/dapperdan. The collection is free to fans with fast fingers who log onto the site to snag it while supplies last. The “Made for Football Watching” gear program also offers fans the opportunity to redeem points to enter for the chance to win the full capsule collection from Sept. 12 to 18 and Sept. 26 to Oct. 2.
The capsule is also being promoted through a video featuring former NFL player Victor Cruz talking to Dapper Dan about the creation of the collection.
Dapper Dan in his Harlem atelier.
“In my entire 35 years in fashion,” said Daniel Day, AKA Dapper Dan, during a visit to his Harlem atelier, “this is the most exciting collaboration in terms of promotion. It opens up a new window for me.”
The Pepsi x Dapper Dan Football Watching Capsule Collection features a handmade “lounger” with vegan leather pockets, as well as a hoodie, bucket hat and a collectible Pepsi can, all adorned with a specially designed Pepsi x Dapper Dan logo. The fleece-lined lounger is large enough for “you and your boo to fit in,” the designer said with a smile, and is intended to be cozy and take the place of a blanket for sitting on the couch watching football.
He embraced his propensity for eye-catching logos by filling the pieces with both the Pepsi logo, his initials and his name in big gold letters. He said he always believed that “if a little goes a long way, then a lot goes even farther.” He pointed to Ralph Lauren’s polo pony and said rather than one horse, “why not give them a whole herd? Give them more of what they like. That’s why they call me the Father of Logo-mania.”
He said in addition to being a follower of the Giants, Pepsi has played a role in his life, and recalled how he was constantly running down to the corner store as a child to buy his father a Pepsi. “In Harlem, sports are king,” he said. “You not only have to enjoy it, you have to own it.”
Todd Kaplan, vice president of marketing for Pepsi, said: “Pepsi has always had deep roots in pop culture, style and, of course, football, but we’ve never brought it all together like we have with The Pepsi x Dapper Dan Football Watching Capsule Collection. Dan’s unique style of merging luxury fashion and streetwear is so bold and unapologetic — just like the Pepsi brand. Partnering with him to blend his visionary taste in streetwear with football fandom and unapologetic football watching has been an extraordinary creative journey and we can’t wait for fans to see the capsule collection.”
Dapper Dan said that if the collaboration is a success, he would be open to working with Pepsi again in the future. “But I like variation in my work so I would like to do a Pepsi rocket ship or jet plane the next time.”
Source: WWD