I never dreamed I would ever be in this fashion space today. Being recognized for my achievements. A straight dark skinned black man who grew up in the age of colorism of the sixties. I couldn’t even imagine myself in the popular black publications like Ebony or Jet. In the last 4 years I have been featured in every major fashion publication. When my friends saw me on the front cover of the New York Times Style Edition, they said “Dap is on the cover of the New York Times and he doesn’t have on handcuffs”. A life of crime was more expected for someone like me growing up in the streets of Harlem. Today there are young men who were thugs that now have dreams of being designers because of what they have seen me achieve. What once was stigmatized as an effeminate career choice is now a doorway to opportunities for young men walking away from a life of crime. I’m dedicating this article to my mother who saw me once standing on the corner high and almost smacked all the black off of me. She hit me so hard. That’s when I realize that young men of color could be stuck on the corners for the rest of their lives. Graduating from the corners is harder than graduating from high school. I want the world to know that I’m not doing fashion to dress bodies. I’m doing it to dress young minds.