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Rap-mogul-turned-actor-turned-fashion designer Sean "P. Diddy" Combs blazed through Toronto
this week to officially launch his clothing line Sean John in Canada.
The Sean John line has flown off the shelves at such department stores as Bloomingdale's and
Macy's in the U.S. since its launch in 1998. But it has been slow to pick up steam here in
Canada, selling mostly at small independent stores and chains such as Athlete's World and
Footlocker.
Now, the Canadian luxury specialty store Holt Renfrew will begin selling the award-winning
Sean John designer collection. Meanwhile, he will continue work on his Bad Boy youth line
and even has a women's line coming out in the fall.
Diddy told CTV's Canada AM he entered the world of fashion because he realized he couldn't
find the clothes in stores that he wanted to wear.
"I was tired of the mediocrity of men's fashion," Diddy told Seamus O'Regan.
"It was kind of blas and you know it didn't really give me a chance to express my
personality and that's what fashion's supposed to do. Also fashion didn't really kind of
express my lifestyle. Like a lot of young men out there, my lifestyle's very diverse. The
range of it, it's the future fashion we call it because it hits every lifestyle.
"We even had older men like 50 wearing it, calling it 'the fashion Viagra.' I heard it
works."
P. Diddy has built up his empire from a record label to a conglomerate of "gangster chic"
consumer items. His Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group is now even peddling tire rims.
They're called Sean John Wheels and are a line of precision-forged aluminum rims that
retail for between $700 and $3,000 US each.
Diddy says it was a natural evolution from clothing fashion to car fashion.
"Your car really is not finished until you buy your custom rims for it. That kind of
dictates who you are, like in your Benz, Phantom Rolls Royce, or your Chevy, Ford or
whatever car you drive."
In fact, for Diddy, there's no end to how far he'd be willing to take his empire. Time
Magazine and CNN recently declared him "One of the Most Influential Businessmen in the World."
As for word that a corporation like McDonalds has said that they will pay hip-hop
artists for product placement if they include the words "Big Mac" in their songs, Diddy
has no problem with that. He says rap artists have been plugging high-end companies for
years, but have never received any compensation.
"It sounds good to me," Diddy says of the idea.
"You know, hip-hop has had an impact on everything. So for a corporation like McDonalds
to come to the party and say they're going to pay us and appreciate us for it, you know,
it's the thing to do. You know what I'm saying?"
During last fall's U.S. election, Diddy even dabbled in politics, acting as a key
spokesman for MTV's "Vote or Die" to get young citizens to register to vote. But
Diddy says that's as far as he wants to step into the political arena.
"I definitely don't want to get into politics," he says.
"I'm into activism and I pride myself on being a revolutionary, culturally. So I'll
probably do a little of both. But I couldn't see myself trying to argue back and
forth with people about things that should just be done anyway. To me, that's what
politics is about sometimes.
"You know, I think -- I will always be an entertainer."
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