Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images
There are perfectly good celebrity style moments, and then there are the looks that really stick with you, the ones you try desperately to recreate at home. In ‘Great Outfits in Fashion History: All-Star Edition’ Fashionista editors are revisiting their all-time favorite lewks from the stylish stars who make regular appearances on best-dressed lists.
Kimora Lee Simmons has been many things throughout her life: a runway model (Karl Lagerfeld once called her “the face of the 21st century”), a reality TV star, a mother and one of the first women, let alone women of color, to build a full-fledged lifestyle brand spanning clothing, fragrance, cosmetics and even a Motorola flip phone.
In 2000, she became president and creative director of the Baby Phat brand, then owned by then-husband Russell Simmons. There, she churned out desirable, affordable clothes inspired by her own trendsetting personal style, turning it into a successful multi-million dollar brand. After it was acquired by the Kellwood Company in 2004, she went on to oversee Baby Phat’s expansion into accessories, jewelry, beauty and more, ultimately becoming president of parent company Phat Fashions. She left in 2010 after it was sold again, but in 2019 she bought it back, just in time to capitalize on today’s Y2K style resurgence.
Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images
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And there’s no one better equipped to put early-2000s trends back into the market. Browsing photos of the party-hopping businesswoman between the years of 2000 and 2006 is like taking a master class in that era’s aesthetic. It’s as if she was born to wear halter dresses, animal-print pants, low-rise jeans, going-out tops and strappy stilettos. Whether she was on a red carpet, at an after party or in a mugshot, she always served look. No one did it better.
In honor of Simmons’ 47th birthday, we’re officially crowning her Queen of the Aughts with a retrospective look at some of her greatest sartorial achievements of the early 2000s. Find all the early-aughts fashion inspiration you’ll ever need in the gallery below.Â
Feeling inspired? Shop Simmons-inspired picks in the gallery below:
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