Fashion maven, Kimora Lee Simmons recently sat down with Chris Witherspoon of NBC’s The Grio to discuss her upcoming reality show “Kimora: House of Fab“, which is a spin-off from her original reality show “Kimora: Life In the Fab Lane”. The show will go behind the scenes of the JustFab offices, which is Kimora’s fashion retail site. When questioned by Chris as to whether or not she felt the fashion industry was too saturated with celebrities with fashion brands, Kimora gave a quite interesting response.

“There’s always room for more because times evolve and people change and we [Me and Russell]  did kind of create that. Before us there wasn’t any Beyoncé, there wasn’t Sean John or Justin Timberlake, there wasn’t Jessica Simpson. There wasn’t any of that. We really laid the blueprint for that,” Kimora told Chris Witherspoon.

She also expressed how much she loves that the success of her business is not tied to a hit album or a blockbuster film:

“One thing I love about myself is this business is that I don’t have to rely on the sales of an album, or my movie being a hit for my clothing to be a hit.”

Some are interpreting her comments as low-key shade, but I’m not really sure if her statements were really intended to be undercutting. Now, if you guys want shade, check out her response when asked how she, Djimon and Russell successfully co-parent while maintaining a drama-free blended family.

“I do things for the sake of my children. I know people say that like it’s a cliché, but when you see their life, it’s not for the sake of their children. They’re fighting or I don’t know what, it’s the holidays and someone hits someone else . No, we’re not doing all of that… My kids are very happy, and if you ask them, they don’t have one dad that loves them, they have two.”

Well, alright then.

Check out footage of Kimora’s interview on the next page. Did you peep the Halle shade that got slipped in there?

Photo courtesy of WENN

SOHH

Spring is in the air (or, it’s coming anyway) and that means it is time for new love. Well, okay…not that kind of love.  This time we’re talking about BROMANCES! For those of you who don’t know bromance is defined as a close, non-sexual relationship between two (or more) men. I know some of you might be thinking “Yeah, can’t happen…not cute” but it really can be fun to watch. Here are a few of our fave celeb bromances…

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(Eurweb) — Russell Simmons is on a mission right now to get the folks who defamed his clothing  label, Phat Farm.  Phat Farm is suing a Florida based T-shirt company Phag Farm for $7 million for infringement on the brand’s name.

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By Brittany Hutson

Nowadays, when music artists get the itch to step away from the industry and dive into the world of entrepreneurship, it’s pretty much no surprise that their first venture is a clothing line. But according to Kristin Bentz, retail analyst and president of Talented Blonde, LLC, “the era of the celeb-designer is close to being over, if not already. When the recession hit, so many rappers/actors/personalities rushed to get licensing deals. So now we are overrun at retail with the remnants of rappers past.”

We collaborated with Bentz to critique some of hip-hop’s hottest lines that are still memorable today, not only for their sales, but also for their massive appeal to consumers and demonstrated business savvy on the part of the artist; as well as some of hip-hop’s less memorable brands due to high pricing points, an absence of solid promotion and mismanagement.

Here are Bentz’s picks for fashion lines that have been leaders in the artist-designer arena:

Phat Farm

Russell Simmons was undoubtedly the pioneer of the celeb-designer phenomenon with the launch of Phat Farm in 1992, which combined the urban aesthetics of the streets and the preppy culture of the Ivy League for men. Successful lines such as Phat Farm are “established by tier one rapper/artists that truly have the star power and financial backing to hire superior management teams and designers, as well as [finance] multi-million dollar ad campaigns,” says Bentz. Another example the demonstrates Simmons’ business savvy and why the brand has lasted for nearly two decades was his decision to sell Phat Farm to the Kellwood Company in 2004 for $140 million. “Brands are sold to large publicly-held companies that know how to merchandise, manage and promote a brand much better than the celebs who own the company are able to.”

by R. Asmerom

What is Baby Phat without its spokesmodel Kimora Lee Simmons? Kellwood Co., the parent company to the urban fashion line, is apparently optimistic about that answer. Ever since the epitome of ostentatious celebrity indulgence announced that she would be leaving Baby Phat to focus on other endeavors, news has been circulating that Kellwood Co. actually fired Lee Simmons, although that has yet to be officially confirmed by reps.

Even though Baby Phat represents one of the first urban female centered lines to hit it big after debuting in 1998, it has not been immune to the wear and tear that accompany the life cycles of many popular labels.

“The brand has performed consistently well for the last few years, but in my opinion is getting a little “long in the tooth,” said Kristin Bentz, a retail industry veteran who writes about consumer retail stocks. “Like Juicy Couture, it tapped in to a certain demographic at a key moment in time and capitalized on that, but when recession rears its ugly head that target consumer gets stretched, and the brand undergoes stress. Brands like Juicy and Baby Phat that are fun and frivolous, but not classic luxury brands, are great– until the tide turns.”

Lee Simmons spun off BabyPhat from then husband’s Phat Farm line and quickly began to make a name for herself outside of being a former model married to a media mogul.

In 2004, Kellwood Co. bought Phat Fashions from the Simmons for about $140 million, retaining Lee Simmons as its creative director. It wasn’t clear how much Lee Simmons continued to influence the fashion direction of the company since then but it was always clear how much of a role she played in the company’s promotional campaigns. She and her two daughters appeared in many of the advertisements and many speculate that it may have been her expensive shoots and fees to herself amidst budget concerns that led Kellwood to cut her off.

“Whenever you have these celeb-designer creative directors, appeasing them and their lifestyle is fine while the money is rolling in,” said Bentz. “But these are desperate times at retail, and company managements have to answer to every dime spent. So, it’s no surprise to me that Kellwood allegedly sent her Jimmy Choo’s walking. This is not new–Versace went through this, Valentino had huge issues with this with Permira. Its just the nature of creative leaders–they like excess. And unfortunately we are now in the salad days of retail.”

Kellwood was in the news for being in some financial trouble last year. Then, the company, which is a major supplier to department stores, was thought to be on the brink of bankruptcy as sales slumped amidst weak consumer confidence during the recession.

“Kellwood did have some “nail-biting” moments financially about a year ago until it worked out terms on an $140 million exchange of its notes with Deutsche Bank and other bondholders”  said Bentz, adding that the company has been getting more aggressive with key acquisitions as of late. “Typically its a positive sign when a company begins acquiring new brands, and Kellwood seems to be holding its own in an extremely Darwinian time in retail. With discounts the rule of the day, middle market brands are getting killed trying to compete as more aspirational brands lower prices to remain competitive.”

With Kellwood CEO Michael Kramer actually looking to “double [the company's] size in the next 6 to 9 months” it’s not clear whether Lee Simmons removal was a cost cutting measure or one involving creative concerns. While independent financial figures couldn’t be found for Baby Phat specifically, Kellwood was estimated to have generated $800 million in sales last year according to The Wall Street Journal. Whatever the case, Lee Simmons won’t be falling on hard times as she has several other ventures, including a reality series, apparel lines and a line of fragrances, to prop her up.