Sean John Opens On 5th Avenue

[stylegurrl]

August 31, 2004

FRONT ROW

Sean John Takes Hip-Hop to Midtown

By RUTH LA FERLA

he soothing espresso-tone lounge area at the heart of the new Sean John store on Fifth Avenue was conceived to resemble a living room — the slickly appointed centerpiece of a fashion emporium built around a series of shops-within-a-shop, each the size of a generous walk-in closet. As described by Sean Combs, Sean John's founder and president, the store "feels like a home area, rather than just a place to shop."

Uh huh. The 3,500-square-foot retail space at the corner of 41st Street, opposite the fierce lions and majestic columns of the New York Public Library, opens today, all cream-colored travertine marble, ebonized walls, brushed nickel rails and soaring 12-foot ceilings. It is home all right, if like Mr. Combs, you happen to be the multiplatinum-selling recording artist and producer, the self-styled visionary at the helm of a $450 million fashion business, the Manhattan mogul whose Park Avenue apartment served as a model for this, his first retail venture. Indeed, Sean John is the first brand with hip-hop origins to be housed in its own upscale environment.

Chatting last Friday on his mobile phone from the back seat of his Rolls-Royce Phantom in Miami, where he had gone for the MTV Video Music Awards, Mr. Combs portrayed himself as a hometown boy made good, one whose Harlem roots would lend his latest project an authenticity. "The store has a sense of glamour and also a sense of style that will rival most of the other big-name stores on Fifth Avenue," he predicted. "I think we were able to truly capture my dreams."

Those dreams took off late last year when Mr. Combs secured his location. "To be honest, Fifth Avenue was where I shopped at, where I could find the big designers I admire, whose footsteps I try to follow," he said, referring to Fifth Avenue luxury emporiums like Hugo Boss and Bergdorf Goodman Men's. "I wanted to play where the big boys were playing."

Looking on last week as workers hoisted the store's 22-foot-wide plate glass front window into place, Charles Soriano, the Sean John vice president for retail, and a veteran of Ralph Lauren Polo, stressed that the store is not a flagship, a monument to ego, but a retail prototype, the first in a planned expansion that is to include shops in Beverly Hills, Houston, Detroit and, eventually, Europe. "We want to show the financial community we can do this. Our focus is on profitability," Mr. Soriano said.

Retail experts call the move nervy, though not particularly risky. "They're pretty bold to put the store where they're putting it," said Wendy Liebmann, the president of WSL Strategic Retail. The store and the merchandise "are at a sort of crossroads of upscale and the hood," Ms. Liebmann said. "But to put it right in that Midtown caldron is a smart move for them."

A first step in expanding Sean John into what Mr. Combs is promoting as "a global lifestyle brand," the shop seems an exercise in achieving more with less. Its square footage is a fifth to a third the size of competing Uptown retailers. Situated on a stretch of Fifth Avenue as yet untested by other designer brands, its rents, too, are estimated to be roughly 20 percent of the rent for a location on Fifth in the 50's, which can be as high as $1,000 a square foot. While the company, which is privately held, will not comment on projected sales, a source close to the company said between $4 and $5 million were predicted for its first year.

Mr. Combs is counting on an influx of customers who, if they cannot gain entree into Puffy's world, can at least sample his lifestyle. Tailored suits, which sell for from $600 to $1,200, are showcased at the rear of the store, at the end of a 60-foot-long runwaylike corridor. Adjacent to a private entrance on 41st Street, leading to a small, shagreen-lined V.I.P. room, is a floor-to-ceiling wall of jeans, priced from about $65 to $250 or more for limited edition styles.

There are shaving sets, iPod cases and jackets for toddlers, to say nothing of Fifi & Romeo shirts and sweaters, tailored for one's terrier. There are diamond-encrusted watches from Jacob the Jeweler, hand-picked by Mr. Combs, and another indulgence, a silk paisley evening jacket ($750). And there are home accouterments, faux fur throws ($895) and matching pillows ($205), designer candles and ceramic vases by Jonathan Adler.

Might it all be a bit rich for Mr. Combs's fan base, those scores of young men who have been buying his tracksuits at Macy's?

"I don't think it's intimidating to people at all," Mr. Combs returned. "My customers trust me to enlighten them. They know I'm very versatile, that I go from Harlem to the Hamptons." Alluding to merchandise that likewise mixes bling with the basics, he added, "this is what you get when those worlds collide."

 

[faust]

 

[Spike413]

WHHHHHY!!!! Oh my god the pain!!!!

 

[marcj]

Im having a very hard time believing that Sean John will rival other stores on 5th avenue... He has even been so delirious to refer to Gucci and even Prada as his competition.

 

[purechris]

Oh my, somebody stop him.

What's with $895 faux fur throws and $205 matching pillows anyway????

 

[faust]

Originally posted by purechris@Aug 31 2004, 04:35 PM
Oh my, somebody stop him.

What's with $895 faux fur throws and $205 matching pillows anyway????

[snapback]351703[/snapback]​

BLING-BLING

 

[Theory]

Good for him, I'll have to stop by the store one day when I remember, LOL.
I've actually liked some of the items from the Collection line. I'm very curious to see how well this works, his Sean John line sells extremely well in Macys and on Macys.com (the suburban kids can't get enough of it) but I'm going to take a wait and see approach as he targets the higher end market.

 

[AlexN]

I think this is all very interesting. Funny and kinda sad, but interesting. I'm anxious to see how it all plays out...

 

[Spike413]

Hopefully with all of the other 5th ave. designers signing a petition to oust him........that's how it'll work out in my fantasy anyway.

 

[TheSweetest]

that is so mean. the man finally has something he's really been wanting. i say good for him and i really hope he does well.

 

[datura001]

I agree with you; anybody who has ever tried to start a business knows how difficult it is to do it with any sort of integrity and dedication to your own sensibility. He's finding a market, it's working. People are just biased anyway; if Sean Combs did those silly little robots that Prada does or slashing clothes into Band-Aids like Helmut Lang, people would be ready to hang him.

 

[Theory]

I your post, especially because it's 100% truth, especially the first part of what you said. But that's a discussion that I've touched on in another thread and won't bring into this one, despite the fact it's clear as day......but when you call people on it, people deny it and claim

Originally posted by datura001@Aug 31 2004, 09:42 PM
People are just biased anyway; if Sean Combs did those silly little robots that Prada does or slashing clothes into Band-Aids like Helmut Lang, people would be ready to hang him.

[snapback]351912[/snapback]​

 

[Spike413]

Mabye I am mean, but as an aspiring designer I resent people like him thinking that money buys talent....it doesn't. I absolutely hate the fact that his ego is inflated enough that he thinks that he deserves to be one of the people on 5th avenue.

I think people are totally biased because he has no talent for anything fashion, he probably couldn't cut a tube top let alone do the things people like Helmut and Miuccia do........besides, those people worked to get where they are, they didn't have the millions to fund whatever fantasy they currently had.

As for me being mean, I wouldn't call myself mean as much as I'd call myself someone with a taste for real fashion......sorry to sound harsh folks, but there's just no changing my mind on this subject.

 

[Luna]

I dunno... some of his stuff is okay.. and some of it is just nasty...

But Hey... a store on 5th ave. Im curious if it will last.

 

[mishahoi]

Originally posted by Spike413@Aug 31 2004, 08:57 PM
Mabye I am mean, but as an aspiring designer I resent people like him thinking that money buys talent....it doesn't. I absolutely hate the fact that his ego is inflated enough that he thinks that he deserves to be one of the people on 5th avenue.

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hmmm...i also used to hate the fact that so many celebs think that just because they have the money and fame (tho no talent) they can start a clothing line.

but now im starting to think differently...as in to the *business* side of this. i mean, i like a lot of the stuff in sean john's collection line and know sure as hell he aint designing those clothes. so a designer gets paid big bucks to ghost design for puffy, they make a bunch of money, the line becomes well-known, then the designers leave to start their own lines with the big star on their resume that says they helped build up the fine designs of XXXXXXX.

without celebrities backing, i think that it would be hard for a lot of designers to get started. all you have to do is dump the celebrity eventually.

this is kinda off the topic slightly so to get back to puffy's 5th ave store opening, i say good luck to them

 

[saturnine]

I saw his collection last year, and thought some of the pieces were quite nice.

That being said, however, he doesn't even create his own designs, just slaps his name on them, how is that true fashion design, art, if you will?

 

[JohnnyBoo]

This is why I cant respect Sean John as an actual designer--he does think that his money can buy talent, and it soooo does not. I mean, maybe it'd be different if he actually went to school for it, or even had an internship under another designer, but nothing. To me, it just seems like he woke up one day and thought, "Gee, what can I do now? Oh, I know, I'll do clothing design." I say "What-ever!" to Sean John, the designer.

 

[clay]

Originally posted by saturnine@Sep 1 2004, 02:52 AM
I saw his collection last year, and thought some of the pieces were quite nice.

That being said, however, he doesn't even create his own designs, just slaps his name on them, how is that true fashion design, art, if you will?

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Saturnine, its not about art....

As others said above, he does not design his own clothing, but does give style and design vision to his company. To which his name drives the brands power. However, he is a very rich man and has been rich for a long tme ( early twenties actually, how many people here can say that). My point about him being rich is that like many kids growing up in urban areas, they to have a appreciation for fine clothing as it is actually a part of black culture ( or at least style is. Not many have gucci money in that environment). Myself as a kid growing up in Oakland would run over to Wilkes Bashford, Versace, Macys, Nordstroms, in SF Union Square and day dream about the time I could afford such designer wear, but I settle for Polo, Tommy, American Rag, Thrift Stores,
Giorgio Armani ( what came to be Emporio Armani later), Willie Smith, Yohji, Matsuda, Marshalls, Macy's Clearance, or anything I could find with great style, a designer name and a great student price ( read discounted). That aspiration lead me into the field of fashion design. However many of my buds did not,even though we shared the same love. But just as I am amazed at how much enthusiasm and knowledge TFS users have on fashion ( many are so young here yet so into it as I was at a young age) many people i grew up with have that same love and knowledge of fashion, though they are not in fashion, they know what is good, Ok or bad or least able to give an opinion on it with authority. PD comes from that. Ok getting back to my rich comment, he has been buying high end designer clothing for a long time, he has been rubbing elbows with these people for a long time. He has also grew up in Harlem and loves it and its people still ( Harlem is actually a center of style and has a long tradition of style, maybe not as much as iT used to be but the legacy is there, wether non Haremites pay attention or not). The two worlds have come together in him and Russel, Karl, and others. He lends his vision to a customer base that is broad at the bottom ( the real urban gear) and aspires to aquire high end customers also
which he knows many that will support him especially entertainers.

I always say it, he is a business man that has the opportunity to make more money in the fashion industry than many of US here put together. That is what he is doing, he enjoys fashion.
In most big companies the name on the door is not the person designing the line. Prada herself does not even know how to draw!!!!!!!!! When did Donna Karen last sew anything. We know Ralph started with a fat tie ( he did not sketch it he bought it and put his name on it). But Ralph by now knows a hell of a lot about couture, classic tailoring and the little details that make his company one of the biggest ever. Today PD knows more about fashion (technically and conception), business, finance, marketing and advertising than many smaller companies out there and many people here in certain aspects.

NOw, I get it. Many people just do not like PD. He is an ego driven maniac. People resent the fact that he does what he wants to do. People resent the fact that he has the audacity do it even more. As if he has not qualified for many things he has done. The truth is he is qualified to do what he does wether you like him or not. Wether you like it on the merrit of it or because he is PD is up to you. If you hate what he does because he is PD or because his music sucks, his design sense sucks, or has no talent as a actor ,OK say so. Most hate PD because he is PD. They see someone that associates with felons, a rapper( oh terrible), a show off, some think he is uneducated though he went to one of the top black colleges Moorehouse and he has started several successful businesses, he talks funny ( Donna Karan doesnt ?) or some think he is a real thug. Love him or hate him at least respect that he climbed to where he is on his own. To get where he is he made other people tons of money first, now he is doing what he does and did for others for himself. That is the american way. I say PD for president!!!!OK kidding here. Give him credit where it is due. I salute him.

 

[clay]

Saturnine, to you i was only pointing out the "art" comment, the rest of my post went to the real haters because PD is simply PD

 

[purechris]

Clay, I understand your point and completely agree with you. But I still have to ask:

"$850 FAUX fur throught with $205 matching pillows?" WTF is that?