Kimora Lee Simmons (born
Kimora Lee Perkins on May 4, 1975
[Russell's hip-hip birthday gift (April 26, 2004) People. Accessed 2008-02-19.]) is an American
model,
author, the head of design for
Baby Phat, KLS, a new line called Fabulosity, and is occasionally an actress. Simmons' ancestry is African from her father and Japanese-Korean from her mother's side of the family. Simmons became CEO of Phat Fashions after her ex-husband
Russell Simmons stepped down.
Racial identity
"I consider myself to be one of the black women in fashion who made it", Kimora says.
"But black women don't look at me like that."
"A number of them
women probably think Russell should be married to a black woman (rather than
Afro-Asian)", Kimora says to Emil Wilbekin, the editorial director of Vibe magazine.
Early life
Simmons was born in
St. Louis, Missouri. She is of Asian and African American descent.
['Fabulosity,' by Kimora Lee Simmons (review January 22, 2006) TheBookStandard.com. Accessed 2007-12-20.] Her mother is Joanne Perkins (who was adopted by an American serviceman during the
Korean War and renamed Joanne Perkins), who now goes by the Japanese name "Kyoko", which she asserts was her "full blooded Japanese mother's name.
Her father is
African American Vernon Whitlock Jr., who previously worked as a federal marshal, a social security administrator, and then a barber in St. Louis. He served three years for drug charges while Simmons was in grade school.
[Phoebe Eaton (June 14, 2004) Kimora Lee Simmons, the New Queen of Conspicuous Consumption New York Magazine. Accessed 2007-12-20.]
Growing up in the north St. Louis suburb of
Florissant, Simmons was very self-conscious about being a "
geek." Other children called her "
chinky giraffe" because of her height and Asian ancestry. By the time she was 10 years old, she was 5-feet 8-inches tall, and became the target of schoolyard taunts and teasing. With no Asian population in her community, she had difficulty fitting in with the mostly black student body who shunned her because of her Asian ancestry. Hoping to boost her confidence, Simmons' mother enrolled her daughter in a
modeling class when she was eleven years old. Two years later, at the age of thirteen, she was discovered by Marie-Christine Kollock (a representative for seminal Paris Agency Glamour) at a Model Search in St. Louis (organized by Kay Mitchell) and sent to Paris. Simmons was awarded an exclusive modeling contract with
Chanel and just after her thirteenth birthday, to work under the tutelage of famed
Chanel designer
Karl Lagerfeld.
She quickly gained attention in the fashion world when Lagerfeld closed his
haute couture show with Simmons, who strutted down the runway decked out as a child bride. "Everything people thought was weird about me before," Simmons told
People Weekly, "was now good". By age 14, her stature had grown to a height of six feet, and she became a self-professed muse for Lagerfeld. She and three other Lagerfeld models (
Bernadette Jurkowski,
Shoshanna Fitzgerald and
Olga Sobolewska) were dubbed "the four Karlettes".
Simmons is a graduate of
Lutheran High School North in St. Louis, Missouri which she recently visited for a meet and greet and a cosmetic conference.
Career
She has appeared in
Ginuwine's video for "In Those Jeans" with model
Devon Aoki and
Usher's video for "Nice & Slow". Kimora Lee is also a playable character in the
fighting game Def Jam: Fight for NY.
She has also appeared in the motion picture Beauty Shop along with Queen Latifah
It is Simmons' goal to fashion
Baby Phat, launched in 1999, into an "aspirational lifestyle brand."
She was one of the judges in
America's Next Top Model for season one. Simmons has also been a co-host of
Sony Television's syndicated talk show
Life & Style.
A book written by Simmons,
Fabulosity: What It Is and How to Get It, was published by
HarperEntertainment in February 2006. The book is set to function as a 'lifestyle manual' on everything from spirituality and finances to fashion and beauty.
She established the Kimora Lee Simmons Scholarship Fund at her high school alma mater in
St. Louis to provide college tuition support for academically successful girls with financial needs and is an active member of youth advocacy organizations including Amfar, The G&P Foundation, Keep a Child Alive, Hetrick-Martin Institute and Rush Philanthropic where she is on the Board of Directors.
In February 2007 Kimora Lee Simmons
Barbie doll was launched, created under the direction of Simmons.
[BarbieCollector.com - Welcome to the official Mattel site for Barbie Collector] She has also launched three perfumes for women:
Goddess,
Golden Goddess and recently,
Baby Phat Fabulosity.
On August 5, 2007 her reality TV show premiered on
Style Network.
Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane chronicles her daily life and routine, along with her relationship with her two daughters Ming Lee and Aoki Lee Simmons. It now re-airs on
E! Entertainment Television. Season two aired at 8:00 pm, April 20, 2008 on the Style network. Biographical documentary TV series (E! True Hollywood Story) documents her life being an entrepreneur, author, model, and mother on October 3, 2008.
The mayor of St. Louis gave Simmons the key to the city.
Personal life
On December 20, 1998, she married
Russell Simmons. They have two daughters; Ming Lee (born January 2000) and Aoki Lee (born August 2002). Both Ming Lee and Aoki Lee model for
Baby Phat Kids Collection. They lived in the town of Saddle River, New Jersey.
In 2004 Russell Simmons sold
Phat Farm to Kellwood Company for $140 million. When Russell stepped down as CEO of Phat Fashions LLC in September 2007, Kimora — who was already Creative Director of
Baby Phat — was promoted by Kellwood to President and Creative Director of Phat Fashions. Simmons and her husband officially separated in March 2006,
[Stephen M. Silverman with Tiffany McGee (March 31, 2006) Russell, Kimora Lee Simmons Split People. Accessed 2007-12-20.] saying the couple had split some time before, but still lived together. In Spring 2006 when they announced their separation the two stated that they would continue to work together on Phat Farm and Baby Phat clothing lines. By March 2007, Simmons was dating actor/model
Djimon Hounsou in 2007.
[Russell Simmons Okay with Kimora & Djimon (March 6, 2007) People. Accessed 2008-01-21.] In March 2008, the
New York Post page six reported that Kimora is pregnant with Honsou's child. Simmons refuted this in
People magazine.
[Kate Klise (March 15, 2008). Kimora Lee Simmons on tabloid talk: lies! People. Accessed 2008-05-17.] Later that month, Simmons officially filed for divorce from her husband.
[Kimora Lee Simmons files for divorce (March 26, 2008) MSNBC. Accessed 2008-05-17.]
Filmography
- Television
- Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane E! - Herself
- Run's House - Herself
- America's Next Top Model - Herself (2003)
- "For Your Love" - Shamira (1 episode) (2001)
- MTV Cribs- Herself (2001)
- "One World Music Beat"- Host (1998) TV Series
- For Love or Money - Model (1993)
- In Those Jeans- music video (Ginuwine) - Model
- Shyne On - music video (Birdman)- Herself
Notes
External links
America's Next Top Model
DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Kimora Lee
