Celebrity Moms - Model Mom
Kimora Lee Simmons was teased as a child because she was tall and multiracial, but things fell into place after she discovered modeling.
My friends are surprised to learn that, outgoing as I am today, I was a loner growing up. I was a mixed-race girl with a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father, and none of the other kids at my school were like me. I was nearly six feet tall by the time I was 11 years old. And I was an only child being raised by a single mother.
At school in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant, MO, everything about me seemed to be a source of ridicule to other kids: my face, my height, the texture of my hair, my body shape. I was a real fish out of water. And because I had so many growth spurts, it took time for me to grow into my body. The popular kids were into sports, but I was awkward and gawky. I was super clumsy—I still am. Kids can be cruel. They called me “chinky giraffe.” I cried all the time. But my mother wanted me to turn my tears into something else, something positive.
My mom, who worked for the Social Security Administration her entire life, has always been my role model. She did her best to make me feel comfortable in my own skin. She always reminded me that we’re all different and that’s to be respected. “Put on your game face,” she’d say. “Yes, it hurts, but don’t succumb to it. It will pass.”
Mom was right, of course. Even though I felt a bit like a freak in school, my unusual looks were just right somewhere else—in the world of modeling. To a camera or a catwalk, my height and exotic looks were assets instead of liabilities. Realizing this, my mother enrolled me in modeling classes when I was 11. She’d take me on “go-sees” during her lunch hour and would rush back to work. If she didn’t get back to her job on time, she’d be reported. It was stressful for her. But she did it for me because she saw how modeling seemed to be a place I could finally fit in. Almost overnight, everything the kids at school thought was weird about me was now good.
When I was 13, I was discovered by agent Marilyn Gauthier at a Model Search in St. Louis and sent to Paris. There, I was selected by Karl Lagerfeld to model his Chanel collection. It seems funny now, but at the time what I really wanted was a normal job at the grocery store like everybody else. But my mother knew that modeling offered a path with more opportunities.
She also taught me a lot about the determination of single mothers. You can’t be lazy, you can take things into your own hands, and fear can propel you. She also made it clear that working moms need to prioritize. You can’t worry about all the things on your list. You do what’s in front of you, and step-by-step, you get it all done.
Things have changed so much for career women since I was growing up. It’s accepted now that as women we work—and we’re a force to be reckoned with. But there are still obstacles, and these are universal. Every woman feels them. I’m the president of Phat Fashions, yet some people in the business world think I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m a woman, and a woman of color. What can you do? If you speak up you’re considered bossy. You get a bad rap for knowing what you want. Through it all I try to maintain a good self-image. Now more people understand my vision.
As my mom did for me, I’m helping my own girls, Ming Lee, 9, and Aoki Lee, 7, learn about tolerance—to respect differences in culture, religion and even the way we look. I also try to set boundaries, let them know what’s expected and give them room to develop and grow. I will do the same with my infant son, Kenzo Lee Hounsou. I recently married his father, Djimon Hounsou. He’s an actor and a model, and he speaks five languages. We learn a lot from him.
I involve my kids in my work, so they can see that even though the balancing act isn’t easy, it’s possible. They also see that fashion can be a creative way to express yourself. Ming and Aoki love to sew and make their own clothes. They have a real fashion sense and inspire me creatively. I listen to their ideas and often consult them, especially for Baby Phat Girlz, one of our children’s fashion lines. Sometimes they appear with me on the runway. They love to go into my closet and pick out my clothes. Our kids help us stay youthful.
As working mothers we need clothes that are fashionable and functional. We need great basics and accessories. Every mom needs a wonderful extra large leather tote, for instance.
And we deserve respect. We’re all in the same boat. We have similar fears and hopes for our kids. We bring home the bacon, and then we enjoy it with our kids. They need us and we need them. My kids and my business make my world go ’round—they’re what I live for.
Kimora's Back to School Fashion Tips
Invest in the staples.
Buy great jeans, along with cardigans, tank tops and t-shirts for boys to layer. For girls, skirts and good pairs of leggings are musts.
Buy quality, not quantity.
Shop for value. Make sure clothes are fashionable and sturdy.
Go for dashes of color.
Rely on blacks, browns and camels— accented with red and green for boys, purples and blues for girls.
Accept who they are.
Kids express their personalities in their clothes. Allow them to be creative in how they dress.
Let them be cool.
Don’t buy them styles they don’t like, thinking they’ll come around. They won’t.
Shop For Girls Back To School Clothing at - GirlsTweenClothing.com 
Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons
In less than a decade, Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons has positioned itself in the world of fashion as the premiere female hip-hop brand. Sassy, sexy, and stylish, Baby Phat first hit the scene as a publicity tool when tiny tees with the clever name Baby Phat were produced to electrify a Phat Farm runway show. When celebrities, supermodels and tastemakers began wearing the baby tees, a phenomenon grew, and a decision was made to launch an entire Baby Phat sportswear collection. A lifestyle brand was born.
In 1998, Kimora Lee Simmons was the natural choice to create, direct and establish the new denim label. She knew the brand's success would rely on her ability to merge the worlds of high fashion and hip-hop. Kimora's experience as a top fashion model, her marriage to Russell, her innate sense of style and her affinity for the finer things in life, would put Baby Phat at the forefront of the urban luxury movement.
From early on, the St. Louis native seemed to have a penchant for style. During the pinnacle of the supermodel era, Kimora Lee's exotic look was already changing the face of fashion. At 13, Kimora Lee was an established model - handpicked by Karl Lagerfeld as the muse for the House of Chanel. By the time she reached 16, she had already modeled for the world's most elite designers, including Giorgio Armani, Yves St. Laurent, Gianfranco Ferre, Givenchy, Fendi, and Richard Tyler. She had graced both the international covers and pages of Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar, and had been shot by some of the world's greatest photographers, including Steven Miesel and Patrick Demarchelier. A runway staple, television personality, businesswoman, and mother, Kimora Lee represents everything a woman a can be and utilizes the high fashion elegance of all that is ghetto fabulous to empower and inspire women through the Baby Phat lifestyle.
The first of her kind, Kimora's over the top personal style radiates through the Baby Phat collection - a collection the world cannot seem to get enough of. Editorial credits and features in magazines including Bazaar, Gotham, Seventeen, Star and Vibe represent the diversity of her lifestyle brand. The celebrity-filled fashion shows have become a New York Fashion Week fixture. Her lavish designs are worn and sought by everyone from Paula Abdul to Britney Spears and Lil' Kim to Alicia Keys. Influential photographers Steven Klein, David LaChapelle and Brett Ratner have all been called upon to shoot the lifestyle ad campaigns.
Baby Phat's slinky feline logo has become an internationally recognizable fashion symbol and is synonymous with the brand. The eye-catching hip-hugging signature jeans represent everything that is feminine and fun, glitzy and glamorous, sensuous and sumptuous about the Baby Phat woman. Denim separates, leather, outerwear, handbags, shoes, lingerie, jewelry, two limited edition Motorola mobile phones and a signature fragrance are tailored for the girl about town intent on raising brows. Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons continues to take fashion to new heights - more than your average urban denim company - Baby Phat is a lifestyle for the glamorous woman who is everything hip-hop and everything fashion.
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