Black Calf-Length Leather Jacket Worn by Melle Mel

Black calf-length leather jacket worn by Melle Mel

Made around 1983, this calf-length black leather jacket was worn by Melle Mel (Melvin Glover, b. 1961) in performance at the 1985 Grammy Awards. Melle Mel was one of the original MCs in Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) and the Furious Five, alongside his brother, The Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Scorpio aka Mr. Ness (Eddie Morris), Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams), and Cowboy aka Keith Keith (Keith Wiggins). The group was one of the first hip-hop crews to gain national attention with songs like “The Message” (1982) and “White Lines” (1983) featuring Melle Mel.  

Despite early 1980s hits by Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, and others, it was Grandmaster Melle Mel’s featured performance rapping the intro to Chaka Khan’s “I Feel for You” at the 1985 Grammys that created a watershed moment in the history of hip-hop. His appearance marked the first primetime network performance by a rapper and the mainstream took notice.  

New York’s premier designer of custom leather goods, Dapper Dan (Daniel Day, b. 1944) who designed and made this leather jacket, is best known for his reworking of traditional luxury products and incorporation of couture logos from fashion houses such as Fendi, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. His signature style, which he coined logo-mania, has become synonymous with hip-hop style. He still works out of his atelier on 125th Street in Harlem and continues to dress hip-hop artists and other celebrities.