Chantelle`s Diary

Hi guys today in this blog post I want to talk about how Kimora Lee turned her brand into an empire and her history coming up. We all know that Baby Phat was so huge within the late 90s and how everyone was rocking it. That is why I decided to go deeper into her empire and history. I hope you all enjoy!

So, Kimora Lee is someone who has a lot of roles from being a businesswoman, former model, and designer. Kimora was born on May 4, 1975 in St. Louis, Missouri and her mom is Japanese and Korean and her dad is African American. Kimora was adopted by an American family during the Korean War and she did grow up in the suburbs of St.Louis but while she was going to school she was being teased by other students for being tall. About a year later her mom did sign her up for modeling classes and at the age of 13 an agent from Paris Agency discovered her. At the age of 14 Kimora signed a contract with Karl Lagerfield the late designer for Chanel. So, in 1989 she was the closer for Karl’s haute couture line. Kimora started to get lots of attention within the fashion industry, she started to get contract with Valentino and Saint Laurent. Kimora did start to embrace her height and used her height as an advantage. She was also on the covers of Harper Bazaar magazine in Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Now as we all know in the late 1990s fashion was a huge thing I mean it is still is but in the 90s fashion was iconic and so many trends were being brought to life. When it came to what rappers were wearing such as baggy jeans from labels like Polo and making Timbaland’s brand into a wardrobe staple what was happening was in the late 1990s rappers and other industry people were starting to create their own brand. We saw labels like Fubu, Pelle Pelle, and Rocawear and these brands were also a huge staple piece. Then, in 1999 Kimora Lee came out with Baby Phat a label that was designed for women and girls since men had more labels towards them. Baby Phat was built alongside Phat Farm which this brand was owned by her ex-husband Russell Simmons. Baby Phat had an aesthetic that women and girls really loved and we saw women who mirrored black culture through the designs Kimora was going for. In 2016, there was a time when Baby Phat was being judged for certain trend and as we see from time to time runway shows appropriate looks like logos that are oversized, faux fur, and embroidered denim.

When it came to Baby Phat Kimora knew there needed to be a space that was for women and she did fill in that gap. She created this brand that had women feeling sexy and empowered and at that time there was no other women who was doing these things. Her clothing pieces were all different from jeans that fitted well, baby tees and dresses. She knew that her brand was something that women would enjoy wearing but, when it came to Baby Phat she wanted to pay homage to where she’s from which is St. Louis Missouri. She also wanted to pay homage to the materials and all the things that made Baby Phat what it is. When it came to the Baby Phat logo and how big it was that may have seemed “ghetto” to some but say when it comes to other brands and they use a big logo it is not seemed as “ghetto”. Kimora did not want her brand to be known as an “urban brand” she knew what she was making was fashion. Kimora wanted her brand to really represent the audience she was attracting which young black and brown girls really loved. It represented the culture and style that they could relate to and we all love a brand that we can relate to. Baby Phat was a brand that can mix high luxury with the streetwear world. She considered her brand the “American dream” even though some people may have tried to knock that title down she was confident in her brand.

Kimora was able to build her brand to a billon dollar business. She was able to create other things then just clothes she did baby clothes, lunch boxes, color cosmetics, headphones, and fragrances. There was a time when some people didn’t even want Kimora in that space but she was able to stand her ground and do what she said she was going to do. When it came to Baby Phat I felt it was different it was a brand that made certain things as “fashion” pieces even though it was not at first. She was able to make the puffer jacket with the fur around the hood a fashion piece. She wanted to push this piece into being into being on the MetBall red carpet and then Moncler ended up doing it. Kimora knew she was the pioneer of some of the trends that were happening back then. To other it was just “American fashion” but to her it was “hip-hop culture”, “ghetto fabulous” and “streetwear” but Kimora knew not to be inside of the box they tried to put her in she definitely paved a way for herself.

Kimora knew her part when it came to the culture and what impact It had on young ladies. Baby Phat was the first brand to the broadcast live in Times Square and she was also the first designer to have a fashion show at Radio City Music Hall. She was also the first one to put her kids in ads and people back then were not doing that at all. She was proud to show off her family and the lifestyle she loved and was not afraid to do so. I definitely believe Kimora was the one who started a lot of trends and was very authentic when it came to the things that she created. As we all know Baby Phat did make a comeback not too long ago and it is so great to see it coming back and having the younger generations see how iconic this brand was back in the day.