In the last few years, a growing body of scholarship has identified the importance of race to explain and interrogate the power of fashion as a multibillion dollar manufacturing industry and as a strong symbolic force. Race, and more in general the politics of fashion, have never been so openly discussed in the fashion industry and in the media as they are today, as is also the case for labels such as “Made in Italy.” Disrupting the traditional narratives of fashion, a growing awareness among consumers has questioned the ethics of the imagery brands disseminate on the internet and of products that degrade race, gender and religious belief. Following these lines and drawing on fashion and translation studies, I would like to offer a critical examination of the relationship between the Harlem based designer Dapper Dan and the house of Gucci. In particular, the essay highlights the notion of difference inherent in the process of translation as it is practiced by minoritarian groups, which as a result become socially visible. One of the questions posed in the paper is how can cultural translation actually be practiced in order to change existing power relations regulating class, gender and race, rather than consolidate them.
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