When we first published Dapper Dan, we wrote a manifesto proclaiming how much we enjoyed opinionated men. Men with a sense of purpose and a soul. Intelligent, creative men with ideas and ideology. Men who didn’t fit—and didn’t want to fit—the standards set by others. Misfits, in other words.
Fifteen years later, we continue to enjoy the conversation, and the association, with such misfits. Today though, rather than addressing just men, we talk to people. People who are stubbornly independent and nonconformist. The oddballs, the outcasts, the eccentrics. The freaks, the alien and the extraordinary. Those weirdos who often turn out to be the true geniuses of our time.
With that in mind, this issue brings together conversations and collaborations with some unconventionally creative minds. The always radical Yohji Yamamoto talks to Angelo Flaccavento. Legendary photographers Martin Parr and Bruce Gilden create an unprecedented fashion editorial together in their signature subversive styles. And fashion designer Hed Mayner gives us a sense of something a little strange just after his AW25 show.
Choreographer and performer Antonia Baehr discusses destabilising identity, while India Doyle asks: Where Does Weird Go Now? Iekeliene Stange tells us about her otherworldly performance group Splitter Splatter, and DJ Hell talks to us about the music that has people dancing like metronomic robots. Meanwhile Angelo Flaccavento introduces us to the beautiful monsters amongst us in a curious story about Martians.
We also talk to Noémie Goudal about her illusionistic landscape installations, to Hew Locke about his exhibition at the British Museum, and Ahmed Umar about how his artwork expresses his desire to claim the space he deserves.
DAPPER DAN SPRING/SUMMER 2025 is out!