With all the fame and fortune Kimora Lee Simmons has achieved, it’s hard to imagine the model had a difficult childhood. “Outgoing as I am today, I was a loner growing up,” she told Working Mother (via People.) “I was a mixed-race girl with a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father, and none of the other kids at my school were like me,” The “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane” star admitted. She went on to add that her six-foot-tall stature did little to help her blend in.
Her mother became a driving force in her life, helping her navigate her difficult pre-teen years. “She always reminded me that we’re all different and that’s to be respected. ‘Put on your game face,’ she’d say. ‘Yes, it hurts, but don’t succumb to it. It will pass,'” Simmons admitted. She is determined to instill the same values her mother gave her in her own two daughters, Ming and Aoki, as well as her son, Kenzo. “As my mom did for me, I’m helping my own girls learn about tolerance — to respect differences in culture, religion and even the way we look,” Simmons told People.
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Aoki took a page out of her mother’s successful modeling career, as the Harvard graduate is signed with Nomad Management. In addition to walking the runway for Pyer Moss and Carlton Jone, Aoki designed a shoe line for JustFab in 2021. Ming, who graduated from New York University with a fashion degree, told Entertainment Tonight that she hopes to collaborate with her mother on her line Baby Phat.
