Fashion Wire Daily NY - There was a telling moment one hour before the Sean John show, when in the midst of some loud pandemonium, security guards began letting people into the 42nd Street Cipriani, the stunning former bank headquarters where the show was staged. Three beautiful black women arrived in a sleek Rolls Royce, but instead of actually descending from the navy blue auto, they waited until a young peon scurried out with an enormous bag from downtown boutique Jeffrey containing the coats in which they could make a suitably grand entrance. For causing a stir among paparazzi seemed to be the main goal of the Sean John line for fall/winter 2003. Certainly, the audience was crammed full of large egos: Mary J. Blige, Kim Cattrall, Richard Johnson, Puff’s natty attorney Benjamin Brafman, and the inevitable Zac Posen.
It was also a family affair, with the heavily pregnant breakfast TV host Kelly Ripa sitting opposite Puff’s handsome son Quincy and his mom Kim Porter. Even Anna Wintour brought her daughter.
The collection itself, like its location, was an eclectic affair. The hall has a Renaissance ceiling, Egyptian stone motifs and Neoclassical marble columns, while the clothes on the catwalk had dashes of Gucci, Versace and Gianfranco Ferre. Yet the ensemble definitely worked; like the setting, this collection, the best ever from Sean John, had some sensational looks both for men and, for the first time, women.
Some things didn’t change, however. No Sean John collection is complete without a harangue, and Saturday night’s event began with someone growling out of the speakers, "That motherfucker King Kong has got nothing on me!"
Staged in front of a massive concave wall of LEDs showing helicopter shots of deserts and estuaries – grazie, Donatella – the show kicked off with some great hooded down-filled parkas, motocross jackets and to-the-ankle shearlings. They weren’t exactly slim -- one long white brushed cotton coat had so many feathers it looked inflated -- but their pizzazz was such that they seemed sure to guarantee the wearer access to the most exclusive of nightclubs.
Tan leather coats, revamped green nylon flight jackets and four-pocket military coats were also impressive. Puff’s choice of color and materials was also impeccable – cashmeres in wheat or gray heather, distressed shearlings in chocolate, black leather with Lurex-like finish. The one button silk jacquard suits, cut with a single vent and straight leg pants that came in shiny black and navy stripes, were impeccable.
Eight “Wonder Woman” looks – all of them in black – finished the show. This selection of harem pants tucked into boots worn with a skimpy bustier, jump suits with mink trim, barely-there mini skirts, lace-up boots and miniskirts got the crowd yelling.
"That look is definitely for me," cooed singer Samantha Cole as supermodel Liya slinked by in a minuscule flared mini and delightful little curvy jacket. No wonder the show was entitled "Hard, sexy and beautiful." Sounds like Sean John’s sales figure -- a whopping $215 million last year.
The key thing about Sean P. Diddy Combs is that while he’s not really regarded as, technically speaking, a "designer" by most people who earn their living in fashion, he is regarded with esteem as a breathtaking entrepreneur. Like any smart businessman, he knows how important it is to hire the right people, in this case the label’s principal director Robert Rigutto. Where previous Sean John men’s collections had overly bulky silhouettes, this one, while not always sleek, had some first-rate tailoring, and where once the emphasis was on downtown denim, last night it was on upwardly mobile luxury. Sean’s now planning a Fifth Avenue boutique to showcase his fashion.
Sitting front row, Puffy’s attorney Brafman, the man who successfully defended when Combs was on trial for an alleged nightclub shooting, told FWD just before the lights went down, "Two years ago during the court case, Sean altered sketches, changed fabrics and worked his Blackberry constantly to organize his show. And, just was we stood up to hear the jury’s decision, it suddenly crossed my mind that Sean was going to become the greatest African-American businessman ever." After last night’s $750,000 show, that prediction looks safer than ever.
