Alain LaFontant, Former Sean John Exec, Dies at 50
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Private services will be held Sunday for Alain LaFontant, former vice president of brand development for Combs Enterprises and Sean John.
LaFontant, 50, died at his home in New Jersey on Aug. 1, according to his wife Stacy. The cause of death is not known.
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LaFontant, whose most recent position was senior vice president of CAA Brand Management, was born to Haitian immigrants and grew up in the States. It was in his junior year of college at Penn State University, where he was studying business management, that LaFontant developed a fondness for hip-hop culture.
“Like many young men and women of my generation, it wasn’t just the music but the lifestyle, clothing, culture and entrepreneurs that rose from the culture that captured me,” he told Gloria Hartley, professor of the Fashion Institute of Technology, for a feature she wrote on his life and career. “That summer I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. J Thomas, who was then a vice president at Bloomingdale’s and ran the BRAG (Black Retail Action Group) industry internship program.”
He was offered the internship and after it ended, he joined the department store and served as assistant buyer of menswear. In 2004, he joined Iconix Brand Group as president of Rocawear Women’s, a role he held for seven years. When he heard that entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs was about to launch an apparel line, he took the leap and joined as vice president of brand management and licensing for five years. He served as vice president of men’s sales for three years as well as vice president of the Sean John brand when it was owned by Global Brands Group. He exited in 2022 and joined CAA.
It was during his time at Sean John that he met his wife, who was working as the assistant to Jeffrey Tweedy, the longtime president of the brand.
Tweedy said LaFontant was instrumental in building Sean John into a $500 million business. “He was my right-hand man,” Tweedy said, adding that the executives who worked for the brand in its heyday, including designers Dao-Yi Chow and Max Osborne of the Public School brand, were all mentored by LaFontant.
“My husband was a calming force who impacted so many people,” his wife added. “He was an incredible human and everyone loved him so much.”
LaFontant is survived by his wife of 19 years, three sons — Tavier, 27; Julian, 15; Max, 10, and one daughter, Alana, 7 — as well as his parents, Josée LaFontant and Anthony LaFontant. Stacy LaFontant said in addition to the private celebration of life this weekend, an industry memorial is being planned for late September.
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