Comprehensive information and links about Kimora Lee Simmons

Kimora Lee Simmons (born May 3, 1975 in St. Louis, MissouriKimora Lee Simmons is a fashion designer and former model, and the wife of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. The couple shares an elaborate estate in Saddle River, New Jersey, with their two daughters, Ming Lee (born January 21, 2000) and Aoki Lee (born August 16, 2002), who both model for Baby Phat Clothing.

Simmons was born to a Japanese-Korean mother, Joanne "Kyoko" Perkins, and African American father, Vernon Whitlock Jr.) and was very self-conscious as a child about being bi-racial. She began her modeling career at age 13 with her mother's encouragement and hope of instilling self-confidence in her daughter. By age 14, she had grown to a of six feet and become a muse for The House of Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld.

Contrary to popular belief, the fashionista is not the founder of the Baby Phat brand, which first came into existence as a publicity tool for her husband's Phat Farm clothing line. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons produced tiny tees with the clever name "Baby Phat" to electrify his men's Phat Farm runway shows. When celebrities and models such as Tyra Banks and Claudia Schiffer started wearing these tees, they became such a phenomenon that the decision was made to launch an entire Baby Phat collection. He brought his wife on board as creative director.

She was one of the celebrity judges on the reality series .

On July 26, 2004, Simmons was arrested outside their estate in Saddle River for eluding an officer, marijuana possession, cocaine possession, and careless driving after a two mile chase that began near the Saddle River Police Station.

Simmons was featured in an April, 2005 article in magazine in which she repeatedly threatened to "beat a bitch's ass" if they dared to flirt with her husband, Russell Simmons. Kimora has been labeled the queen of conspicuous consumption of the new millennium.

Her first book,