Before the Kardashians were the hottest family on reality TV, there was Kimora Lee Simmons. As a model and fashion mogul, Simmons was the IT girl to watch on TV. Her show, “Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane,” totally reflected that. Now almost 15 years since the show last aired, Simmons returned to our screens on Tuesday (Dec. 2) with a reboot of her iconic 2000s reality show “Kimora: Back In The Fab Lane”, which will invite a new generation of reality TV watchers into her fabulous life.
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If you are a newcomer to her life, we will give you the rundown on why she is so fabulous.
Humble Beginnings
Before she dominated fashion in the 2000s, Kimora Lee Simmons was just a girl from St. Louis. Her dad, Vernon Whitlock Jr., is African American and was the first Black deputy federal marshal in St. Louis. Her mom, Joanne Perkins, is mixed with Japanese and Korean. She worked as an administrator for Social Security, according to The Guardian.
Bullied Growing Up
Growing up tall and mixed-race in what she calls “rural” Missouri made Simmons feel like an outcast. In an interview with the “Him & Her” podcast hosted by entrepreneurs Lauryn and Michael Bosstick, Simmons says her mom put her into etiquette classes to help boost her confidence. It was in one of these classes that someone would first encourage her to go into modeling.
Modelling For Chanel At 13
Following the advice she was given, she started modeling at local agencies in St. Louis. It did not take long for Kimora Lee Simmons to get her big break. At just 13, she was scouted by the Parisian modeling agency, Marilyn Gauthier, and they took her straight to the iconic French city. She is the youngest model to have been a muse for Karl Lagerfeld, who was Chanel’s creative designer at the time.
“They whisked me off to Paris, they talked to my mom and said, ‘She could really do this.’ My first casting was Chanel, and I landed the job,” Simmons told her hosts on “Him & Her.”
Bullied As A Model
Even though she had managed to escape the bullying she received in Missouri, it unfortunately did not stop when she reached Paris. While many might dream of walking down the Chanel runway alongside icons like Naomi Campbell, it was not easy for Simmons. She was not only homesick but also bullied by some of the other Chanel models.
Looking For a Way Out of Modelling
By the late 1990s, Simmons was searching for a way out of modeling. In an interview with Bustle, she said she felt the industry was too superficial for her to handle.
“By the late 90s, I was probably looking for the exit door, and I was still very, very young. But I couldn’t believe that I was in a business that was so superficial, that you’d come to work and it would be like ‘Oh my god, you are so beautiful, you are everything,’ and tomorrow you might not be… I wanted to give something else to fashion.”
Baby Phat Is Born
Simmons found her way out of modeling with the launch of her fashion brand Baby Phat in 1999. The brand became a global phenomenon after being embraced by stars like Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, Britney Spears and Lil’ Kim, according to Baby Phat. The brand was attainable but glamorous, and its sexy Siamese cat logo remains iconic today.
How Baby Phat Came To Be
Simmons built Baby Phat into an iconic brand, but the idea was inspired by her then-husband, Russell Simmons, founder of the clothing line Phat Farm.
On the podcast, “Him & Her,” Simmons explained that the concept arose when she recognized a lack of decent streetwear brands specifically for women.
“My then-husband had a clothing line for men, and wanted to do one for women, and came out with all of these crazy clothes that look like men’s clothes on women. And I’d be like, ‘We don’t want that ugh.’ So then I just started taking the stuff and turning it around and giving girls what they wanted. So, I just launched a line. I started the woman’s counterpart to the men’s line at that time.”
Mom of Two and An Entrepreneur
Simmons might have started the 2000s as a busy entrepreneur, but that did not stop her from being a hands-on mom. Her daughter, Ming Lee, was born in 2000, followed by Aoki Lee in 2002. They made frequent appearances on her hit show, “Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane.”
Taking Over Reality TV
As if being a fashion mogul and a mom of two young girls was not busy enough, in 2007, Simmons added a reality TV show to her already extensive resumé. The show gave fans a candid look behind the scenes of her fabulous life.
Selling Baby Phat
In 2010, Simmons’ reality show, “Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane,” was coming to an end. She resigned as president of her iconic brand, Baby Phat, that same year. The brand was first sold to the Kellwood Company in 2004, along with the rest of Russell Simmons’ Phat Farm label, according to The Root. However, it would not be until 2010 that Simmons would part ways with the iconic cat and remain mostly out of the spotlight.
Philanthropist Work
In addition to being a fashion mogul, Simmons is also a philanthropist. In 2022, she hosted a back-to-school giveaway with Crayola to help parents in Los Angeles get their kids ready for school. She also handed out some Baby Phat swag to ensure the students started their academic year in style, according to PEOPLE.
In a 2021 interview with Hollywood Life, the Baby Phat CEO noted that she raised her children to understand the importance of giving back to others.
“I want my kids to understand the whole idea of coming together, giving back, using your face, your name, your image, your visibility to get out there and do the work and encourage everybody else to do the same.”
Mom of Five
Simmons is also a mom to five kids. She has Ming and Aoki Lee with Russell. She had Kenzo Lee with her ex-husband, Djimon Hounsou. Her youngest is Wolfe Lee, whom she shares with ex-husband Tim Leissner. She also adopted Gary Lee at the age of 10 in 2020, according to PEOPLE.
Proud Boy Mom
While her boys are all still in school, Simmons does not hold back from boasting about her sons. On “Him & Her,” the Baby Phat CEO said her sons, Kenzo and Gary, are both amazing athletes.
“Wolfe is 10, and I have Kenzo and Gary, they’re 15…They’re both freshman in high school, and they’re amazing in sports. Gary plays football, and Kenzo plays basketball. And Kenzo, he’s a freshman, but he’s on varsity (team), and he’s 6’8″. They just won the D1 championship for varsity ball, and he’s the youngest one in the team and the tallest one in the school.”
Ming Lee
Simmons’s two daughters are starting to carve out their career paths. After graduating from NYU in 2023 with a degree in fashion, Ming Lee began making a name for herself in modeling. She has done shoots for brands such as SKIMS, Good American and, of course, Baby Phat, according to PEOPLE.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Lee said that she hopes to start a fashion brand of her own in the future.
“I definitely like designing, and I like helping my mom with Baby Phat. That’s really fun because I get to see a lot of my ideas come to life. I think in the future, maybe starting my own fashion line would literally be so fun.”
Aoki Lee
Like her mom, Aoki Lee is a busy bee. She graduated from Harvard in 2023 at just 20 years old with a double major in classics and political science. As a student, she found time to intern at the mayor’s office in New York as well as model full-time, according to Entertainment Tonight. Lee is considering a career in politics.
Back To The Screen
Now, after a well-deserved break from a hectic life in the spotlight, Kimora Lee Simmons is welcoming fans back into her life of fabulosity with the reboot of her reality show, “Kimora: Back In The Fab Lane,” on E! Network. So, if you are looking for a glitzy, glamorous show to watch, kick your feet up, sit back and relax this December, because that is exactly what is coming.
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