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He's No Versace
Written by: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by: Gruber-FWD
New York, Feb 10, 2000/ FWD/ -- Twenty-four hours after appearing in a
Manhattan court on charges of gun possession and attempted bribery, Sean (Puffy) Combs shook
the New York fashion season out of the doldrums with a celebrity-packed catwalk bash in Bryant Park.
The courtroom jury is not expected to render its decision for several weeks. But the fashion
flock had no doubt about Sean John last night: In money terms, this collection is a winner.
Three years after its launch, Puff Daddy's "fashion house" is predicting sales of $100 million
for 2001. The naughty rapper's talent to turn everything he touches into gold already seems
akin to American lifestyle icon Ralph Lauren. If Puffy could stay out of jail and out of trouble, he might just build an empire for this millennium.
The live-cast event bristled with security men decked in shiny mohair suits positioned at
every second aisle seat. Scores of PR peons hustled the guests into their places - Stephen
Baldwin, Tommy Hilfiger, rappers Bobby Brown and Busta Rhymes and the leggy Destiny's Child.
A giant video backdrop showed a confusing montage of images, everything from Che Guevara,
Martin Luther King, Jr., inner city riots, to Mick Jagger, Bob Marley and clips from Jennifer
Lopez's latest video. Sean's squeeze had to miss the show to tape "Saturday Night Live" a few
blocks north, an excuse she also invoked last season.
Puffy even slid in a few barbs about his court case. The show ended with a full blast "I'm
Still Standing," as a Maya Angelou quote appeared on the screen: "You may write me down in
history with your bitter twisted lies."
However, this Fall 2001 Sean John collection was as rambling as its audio-visual effects.
Curly lambskin vests came over five pocket raw denim pants, deer trench coats were paired
with patchwork denim jeans and sheered minks coats looked incongruous with windowpane 5-pocket
pants.
At the show's mid-point, Puffy lowered the volume with three Savile Row-style three-piece
suits, ideal attire for his two attorneys Johnnie Cochran and Ben Brafman, who sat front
row at the show. "It's impressive that he has so many talents," Brafman told FWD.
Added the portly Cochran: "Tonight is just a night of fun for all of us. He's an amazing
young man."
What, FWD asked the lawyers, were Combs's chances of beating the rap for which he faces up
to 15 years in prison? "We remain highly confident our client will be acquitted," snapped
Brafman.
"Exactly," sniffed Cochran.
Halfway through the show a rapper harangued: "All you fashion conservatives out there" are
witnessing "a fashion revolution."
We're sorry to break this news to Puffy, but it was not. Combs maybe a gifted musician, a
born showman, and, allegedly, a gun-toting criminal, but a fashion visionary he is not.
In terms of cut and silhouette - the acid test of designer talent - this show had little to
offer. Doing XXL gangster rapper outfits in expensive materials like Persian lamb, lynx,
embossed lizard, deer suede or sheered mink does not constitute anything remotely like a
style paradigm - it's just dressing to excess.
That said, Combs certainly understands the richer-the-better zeitgeist of our era. His rousing
spectacle earned a standing ovation and the clothes should find plenty of clients well before
any winter sales.
Puffy dedicated the collection to Gianni Versace, which was apt, if highly aspirational.
There was no trace here of Versace's talent, but Gianni would have dug this show.
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