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Sean John adds younger line

Hip hop artist turned fashion mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is expanding his fashion empire with a new younger line for women. Sean John Women's sportswear will be manufactured and distributed by G-III Apparel Group Ltd.

The line will mirror the Sean John men's wear collection in distribution and price point. It is expected to debut in spring 2007 and prices for the line will range from $28 (£16) to $495. The collection will be available in the Sean John flagship store in New York, in select specialty stores, and in department stores in the US and in international markets.

“The Sean John women's collection will revolutionize fashion like the men's line did when we launched seven years ago,” said Combs. “With this women's collection, I plan to bring beautiful, sexy designs to ladies around the world.”

Combs wants to position the collection as a high-end sportswear line. “It'll be a little bit more luxury than you would see in Baby Phat,” he told WWD. “It will be competing with Ralph Lauren for space and, we believe, the space that's been open through Tommy's (Hilfiger) lack of performance will be filled by some of this product. I think this collection will represent where Sean John men's has evolved to. We're known as the first guys to shrink the logos.”

Morris Goldfarb, chief executive of G-III Apparel, said the collection will include tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear and denim and will be driven by “fashion and quality”, not the Sean John logo.

“(The collection) will be very fast and very sexy,” Goldfarb told WWD. “The appetite at retail is just huge. We've polled the department stores and they can't wait for this to happen. We talked to a lot of specialty stores about the availability of space for this product line. Everyone is excited.”

Elaborating on the collection and future plans, Goldfarb said: “It's a collection of sportswear that will cater to a young woman who wants to wear this clothing to a club, but there will be components of it that will be more for play or a little more dressy. Down the road there will be pieces that will cater to the working woman as well.”

Currently, Sean John generates $450 million at retail. Goldfarb said that the brand has the potential to grow to a $100 million wholesale business.