Have you ever wondered what’s
the real story behind your favorite beauty brands? Like, the trip to
Marrakech that inspired your favorite lipstick shade, or the
major scientific discovery that spawned your skin cream. Or, of course,
how each brand got started in the first place. From small family
upstarts to Hollywood's biggest makeup artists, read on to hear the
inspiring stories behind your favorite beauty companies.
In order to go behind Sean John the brand, you must first go behind the man: Sean John Combs. Affectionately known as “Diddy” by some, Combs is a man who wears many hats. From pioneering producer to pop culture icon, fashion designer to philanthropist, fragrance designer to father, CEO to celebrity, he’s the definition of a modern day Renaissance man. But his mogul status was not handed to him on a silver platter: Fully throwing himself into everything he does, passion is the root of Comb’s success.
Long before Combs was living his dream, he was an intern at Uptown Records, a New York City mecca for hot new artists. After working his way up the corporate ladder at lightning speed, the entrepreneurial Combs founded Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993. A magnet for emerging urban talent, Bad Boy Entertainment produced a slew of multi-platinum recording artists, including Combs himself. Several hit singles and a laundry list of chart-topping artists later, Combs secured his status as a hip-hop mogul.
Since he’s known for creating
trends in both music and style, fashion was a natural extension for
Combs. In 1998 (at the age of 29) he started Sean John apparel, kicking
off the trend for
celebrity spawned fashion lines. His interpretation of
urban style—featuring the sweat suits, hats, and logo tees you’d see in
a Bad Boy produced video—enjoyed success in the market place and
critical acclaim by the fickle fashion press, and in 2004 Combs won the
fashion equivalent of a Grammy: The prestigious CFDA Perry Ellis Award
for Best Menswear Designer of the Year.
Combs also donates his time to many philanthropic causes. In November 2003, he completed the New York City Marathon and raised $2 million dollars to benefit children’s charities in New York City. In 2004, he formed the groundbreaking Citizen Change (Vote or Die) campaign to serve as a wake-up call to young and minority voters.
In the spring of 2004 Combs made his Broadway debut in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Today, as CEO of Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment, Mr. Combs’ interests encompass a broad range of businesses from music publishing and fashion to producing shows for television and film, and now, a fragrance that aims to embody his contagious passion for life.
The scent, Sean John Unforgivable, is not just a name on a bottle—Combs was dead set against that. In fact, his involvement in the creation process was so hands on, he even went so far as to host fragrance sampling sessions with the perfumers in his own kitchen. After 665 attempts, Combs found the mixture that would become Unforgivable.
In just a little over ten years, Combs has forever changed the landscape of pop culture—and he’s just getting started. Driven by his belief that to live life without passion is Unforgivable, Sean John Combs is truly one-of-a-kind.