Music is only one income stream, says Stewart, who notes rapper Dr. Dre has made more money on his “Dr. Dre Headphones” than any music he has produced. Cindy Gomez-branded product is in the pipeline. In October, the Gap will launch a Flip brand video recorder with Gomez’s image as part of its charitable (Product) Red line co-founded by Bono. A lingerie line is about to be announced. Given Stewart’s knack for cross-pollination, it’s likely to be tied to his new Rock Fabulous Clothing line, a partnership with designer Christian Audigier. One of the items in the collection is the “God Wants Me to be Sexy” T-shirt, which is also the title of a Stewart-Gomez techno-beat song. Stewart also has big ideas for a video that would feature Gomez with women of various cultures. “It would be great to show a Muslim woman in a burka singing God Wants me to be Sexy.”
On the question of possible Cindy Gomez oversaturation or her being seen only as a Nokia product, Stewart is sanguine. Those are old-world-order concerns, he says: “It will all roll out over time.”
For now, Gomez is delighting in a life she once imagined, which still contains the rare unproduced, spontaneous moment. Stewart tells the story of going out for dinner with Gomez at Paris’s La Coupole. They struck up a conversation with an American couple celebrating an anniversary, one of whom happened to be an executive with their record label. As a gift, Gomez stood up, and began singing La Vie en Rose. “There were a thousand people in the restaurant,” Stewart marvels. “That really takes a lot of guts. It was Paris.” A hush slowly fell over the huge room, he recalls. When it was over, everyone stood and cheered. Her bosses at the office furniture company had it right.
