Urban warriors
The fashion world’s twice-yearly tour of runway frivolity began here this weekend as the national terrorism threat level was raised to “code orange,” or “high risk.” News reports warned of attacks on hotels and places where large numbers of people gather, but that didn’t deter the clothes-obsessed.
On Saturday night, Cipriani, a 42nd Street power eatery, was the scene of one of the week’s most hyped events, Sean Combs’ Sean John menswear show. And who would have thought that the music mogul and party promoter known for dating J. Lo, beating a gun possession rap and riding around St. Tropez on a jet ski dressed in his bathrobe, would stage a show so appropriately steeped in themes of war and peace?
In the past, Combs, who designs a men’s collection that annually grosses $215 million, has been notable for his decadent ghetto-fabulous style -- acres of fox fur, sharp-tailored suits that recall the Cocktail Nation, and diamond-stud earrings as big as ice cubes. But this year, his fifth in the clothing business, the king of bling bling took a sobering turn.
Inside the humongous space, dining tables had been cleared away to accommodate rows of carpeted risers on either side of a clear runway that was lit from beneath. Watching from the wings were Mary J. Blige, a platinum blond Janice Combs (the designer’s mother) and Kelly Osbourne, her chubby cheeks framed by white Chanel earmuffs with CC logos.
As the lights went down and the music went up, his models charged the runway with aggressive, clenched jaws and steely eyes that suggested anger with the state of the world. That mood translated into combat-ready, zipper-studded cargo pants; Army-green flight suits; military great coats and cartridge belts.
For the first time, Combs showed a handful of women’s designs, including a black leather bikini with a ruffled bottom and a raggedy Mad Max-like fur stole. The women’s wear, however, was merely a “preview” of a fuller line that will be produced for spring 2004. But the clothes were overshadowed by the backdrop, a film produced by Combs and video director George Elizondo, which, when projected on the massive 30-foot wall behind the runway, had a larger-than-life, IMAX-like effect.
Both provocative and unsettling, the film was a dizzying montage of violent images and sounds, many recalling the turbulent 1960s. The roar of helicopters was interspersed with footage of Jimi Hendrix attacking his guitar while wailing “Purple Haze,” and Charlie Sheen’s voice-over from the final scene of the Vietnam war film “Platoon.” (“The war is over for me now but it will always be with me all my days.”)
There were clips of gyrating party girls too, along with aerial views of rippled desert sand and soaring flight scenes through cottony clouds. And, in one particularly ominous moment, the entire back wall appeared to be engulfed in flames.
The collection, called “Renegade,” was meant to evoke a “warrior vibe,” according to Combs, who made a quick exit after the show to fly to Atlanta for the All-Star basketball game.
On Monday, in a phone interview, he elaborated on the show’s theme: It wasn’t intended as an antiwar statement, he said. Instead the collection was meant to be about “a man at war with himself.”
Alas, not everyone was impressed. Waiting in line for the after party at Meatpacking District hot spot Lot 61, Tonya M, a 31-year-old designer, pulled her black coat closer to ward against the hand-chapping cold and said, “I expected it to be more rock ‘n’ roll.”
