Kimora Lee Simmons began taking modeling classes when she was 11 after experiencing bullying at school. Due to her remarkable height and striking features, she found success and landed a contract with Glamour–a Paris modeling agency– and then with Chanel when she was 13.
Kimora Lee Simmons met Russel Simmons while working at New York Fashion Week in 1992, making her 17 and Russell Simmons 35 when they met. Regardless of this, they began dating and later married in 1998.
Following their marriage, Kimora Lee Simmons continued working in the fashion industry and was doing well in her field. Russell Simmons launched the clothing brand Phat Farm in 1998, which quickly became the most influential streetwear brand of its time. By the late 90s, Phat Farm had become a staple in the hip-hop fashion industry.
Watching Phat Farm flourish so well inspired Simmons to expand the brand and create a women’s fashion line. At first, the women’s line was nothing special; it consisted of existing Phat Farm t-shirts formulated to fit well on women, but Kimora Lee Simmons saw the potential it held, and took over in 1999.
Kimora Lee Simmons presented bedazzled baby tees, velour tracksuits, and runway shows, featuring celebrities like Lil Kim, a famous rapper at the time, for the brand. These improvements helped to create a blend between women’s wear, hip hop, and dub street wear, a newer genre of fashion.
At this time, Russell Simmons was prominent in the music industry, which led to some of his friends, such as Mary J. Blige, Nas, and Janet Jackson, sitting front row at the fashion shows, while Kimora’s model friends, Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell, frequently sported the brand.
The diversity among the runway and marketing campaigns helped to normalize Black runway models, fulfilling the overall goal of Kimora Lee Simmons to create a women’s streetwear brand that combined high fashion with hip hop culture, especially for women of color.
Through the mid 2000s, while Phat Farm seemed to slow down as customers shifted to different brands, Baby Phat was still going strong. In 2004, however, both Baby Phat and Phat Farm were sold to Kellwood, a large clothing producing company, for $140 million, and two years later, the couple publicized their separation, followed by their divorce in 2009.
In an attempt to smooth the transition process, Kellwood kept Kimora Lee Simmons involved with the brand until, ultimately, she left, and Kellwood was on its own. In 2010, Baby Phat discontinued all operations, and the brand only existed in old-school photos and in the hearts of former fans.
However, in 2018, Kimora Lee Simmons was able to buy Baby Phat back, and she worked hard with her daughters Ming Lee and Aoki Lee, along with their team, to modernize the brand while maintaining the original 2000s flair the early version offered. They made a collab with Forever 21 and launched all new capsules, and even collaborated with artists such as Ice Spice. The public was eager to reclaim the brand as people quickly bought out the new releases.
Baby Phat has worked to reclaim its top spot, which it left behind over 20 years ago, and as the public embraces a stronger want for 2000s fashion, they look as though they have a chance at a comeback.
