Kimora Lee Simmons is a force you can't ignore.
Firstly, she's 6 foot tall. In heels, she is 6ft 4.
So, she kinda towers over... well, anyone [scroll down for a fab photo of Kimora and I post-interview...].
Here she is, larger than life:
Kimora came to Australia last week to promote her new show on the Style Network, called 'Kimora: House of FAB.'
The series is different from her previous one 'Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane', which screened in Australia and all around the world.
In the new series - 'Kimora: House of Fab' which airs Mondays at 8.30pm on
Style [on Foxtel], starting tonight - viewers are given a glimpse into the high-tech world
of Kimora’s fashion dot-com, 'JustFab', and her equally fab employees.
Kimora is a model, mogul, mum, author,
philanthropist and media personality, who's become one of the most dynamic and
influential businesswomen in fashion and entertainment for the past two decades.
By age 13, the St. Louis [USA] native and young model was discovered and whisked away
to Paris where she signed an exclusive contract with Chanel.
Karl Lagerfeld
declared her his muse and deemed her the "Face of the 21st Century."
In addition to modelling for the French fashion house, Kimora has also walked
the runways of Christian Dior, Roberto Cavalli and Yves Saint Laurent.
She's
been photographed by the world's most celebrated photographers, including
Steven Meisel, Annie Liebovitz, Mario Testino and Peter Lindbergh, for the
covers of such magazines as Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar. Building on her
dynamic fashion experience, Kimora has spent the past 16 years cultivating an
international staple of iconic, successful brands including fashion,
accessories, fragrance and beauty.
I sat down with Kimora at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney and after we complimented each other on our outfits [Kimora loved the rose gold watch I was wearing... I adore everything about her sexy get-up], she gave me the lowdown on the news series.
"The response to the new series [in the US; they are up to ep 3] has been great. People love their
fashion; I think it’s important for me to show the many different personalities
and jobs that go into making the whole thing work. I think it’s a very interesting
concept but also it’s very inclusive of everyone. So I think anyone can see
themselves in it, and be inspired, be entertained. It’s a fashion business, so
it’s the business of fashion, and the fashion of business; plus, it’s a tech
company, and we’re a self-contained studio, so we shoot commercials and we do
photo shoots and editing and our models are there. We have, like 30,000 or so
square feet of space so it’s really a fantastic operation, and it centres around
shoes. Shoes, bags, accessories, denim, dresses but it’s primarily shoes. It’s
a shoe castle!"
"I want people to watch and tell me what they think. I’m not
going anywhere. But I think shows and life and businesses and families – things
take their evolution and so I have no problem with someone saying, “Oh we want
to see that again, or we want to see more of the kids!” Because the kids are
not in this series, and we’re not so much in my house… this is a whole other
thing. Things are not set in stone though, and things change and can go back
and forth. I have been at the network for eight years, so… we want people to
tell us! It's not like it’s a bad thing. We want to show it all! It’s edgy and
fun and it gives you great fashion… it’s like an exhilarating journey for people
to watch the whole process.”
"Yes,
and I have lots of different brands. My biggest one – my original one, was Baby
Phat. At its high point it was a billion dollar brand. It speaks to people in
fashion and what they like and what they don’t, which is accessibility… even
though some people try to be snooty about it and say fashion should not be that
way, I think it should be… but to each his own. This is just my little formula because
I don’t make a $5000 pair of jeans, but I have had the privilege of being in
the industry so I have worn those jeans, I was there when they made the jeans, I
can tell you that those jeans are fantastic, but it’s not really necessary… and I know how to make
it better, I know what I loved about it, what I didn’t, so I have different
view point and I’ve done that since I was ten years old."
What I adored most of all was Kimora's take on parenting... but that's a whole other post. Stay tuned...
In the meantime, tune into 'Kimora: House of Fab' which starts tonight and airs Mondays at 8.30pm on Style [on Foxtel in Australia].
Here's Kimora and I!
