Blog Kimora

Way past 15 minutes

IndyStar.com - They're rich. They're famous. They're all over TV, the Internet and any other media you can think of. But when lesser mortals are pressed, few can articulate what, exactly, these people do to warrant so much attention.

Way past their 15 minutes: Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Anna Nicole Smith, Kimora Lee Simmons, Kevin Federline, Rupert Boneham, Jared Fogle and Flavor Flav

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Joining Forces with a Henchmen

Jimmy Rosemond (a.k.a. Jimmy Henchmen), manager of multi-platinum rapper The Game, contributed his time and efforts toward Upliftment Jamaica during a recent humanitarian trip to Jamaica.

The industry veteran, along with former light heavyweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins, Dr. Ben Chavis and Russell Simmons amongst others visited Jamaica from December 7th – 9th in support of the Upliftment Jamaica movement, which helps bring attention to the lack of opportunities within
the impoverished country.

"People need to be mindful of the other side of Jamaica besides the vacation resorts," said Rosemond. "As a successful person of Caribbean descent, I take it upon myself to get involved with programs such as Upliftment Jamaica to help bring awareness to the impoverished conditions in Jamaica."

"Upliftment Jamaica is a great cause that has been trying to shed light on the impoverished conditions in Jamaica for years," said Dr. Ben Chavis. "I am glad to lend my time and resources and those of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network to increase awareness of this cause."

Other attendees who received awards during the event included President and creative director of Baby Phat Inc., Kimora Lee Simmons; BET Executive Vice-President, Raymond Goulbourne; Vincent HoSang, owner of Caribbean Food Delights; Clifton Bailey a.k.a. Capleton, entertainer; and film executive, Stan Lathan.

— Miles Bennett

www.ballerstatus.net - Dec. 26, 2006

Jolie

"Kill Bill" actress Vivica A. Fox has entered a more literary region: "I have a magazine called Jolie," Fox tells People. It's "a fashion magazine which stands for 'live pretty,'" she says enigmatically.

"I'm editor at large, which basically means my responsibility is that I interview whoever is on the cover and I also recruit cover models," Fox says.

The mag, which is geared toward minorities, has featured Fox (and why not?), Tyra Banks and Kimora Lee Simmons on its cover.

"We celebrate the fabulous life," Fox said. She said Jolie is all about "having a positive attitude and no matter what size you are, from a 2 all the way up to size 20, that you are fabulous and that you are loved and beautiful too."

The Philadephia Inquirer - Dec. 20, 2006

Regan's fate is unwritten

On the heels of HarperCollins' firing of Judith Regan on Friday, questions swirled around the events precipitating the firing, as well as the exact fate of Regan -- both the personality and the imprint -- and the future of staffers, many of whom relocated to the West Coast within the last year.

In at least some way, the firing was a reaction -- albeit a delayed one -- to the embarrassing scandal involving a Regan tome and TV special with O.J. Simpson titled "If I Did It," in which Simpson described how he would have committed the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

The O.J. incident earned across-the-board condemnation and a statement from Murdoch, who called the event "ill-considered" and yanked both the book and the spesh.

In a statement almost as harsh as its O.J.-related rebuke, HarperCollins "terminated" Regan late Friday, providing a coda to one of the more embarrassing publishing scandals in a year filled with them. News Corp.-owned publisher followed Friday's terse press release with an equally short statement on Saturday saying the imprint would continue in some manner under Regan's deputy, Cal Morgan.

...

Slate of ReganBooks include the Mantle book and titles from Fox News personality Catherine Crier and the late U.N. ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, a book advocating for the raw-food movement, a novel titled "Sex and the Single Zillionaire" and Kimora Lee Simmons' how-to "Fabulosity."

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For Celeb Fashion Designer Success Relies on More than Names

Podcaster News - Anyone who is anyone on the A-list - as well as the B-, C-, and D- seems to have a line of clothing, accessories, or fragrance line these days.

J. Lo (JLO by Jennifer Lopez), Beyonce (House of Dereon) & Gwen Stefani (L.A.M.B.) originally led the pack. Now, the field is getting crowded: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (clothing, accessories, home décor), Jay Z (Rocawear), Justin Timberlake (William Rast menswear), Kimora Lee Simmons (Baby Phat), Jessica Simpson (clothing, denim & shoes) Hilary Duff (clothing, accessories, fragrance), Jaime Pressly (sportswear), Pamela Anderson (lingerie), Blink 182’s Travis Barker (clothing), and Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue (a menswear line called Royal Underground).

In the lead are L.A.M.B., Baby Phat, and Rocawear. In the it's-too-early-to-tell category are House of Dereon, William Rast (Justin Timberlake), and Sean John who exited womenswear and is planning to launch a line for juniors. And lagging at the rear are Jessica Simpson, Nicky and JLO. "JLO has softened a lot," Rob Smith, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for Macy's East, recently told WWD. In fact, celeb lines as a whole are no longer exhibiting magic at the cash register, and the chain even dropped the Chick by Nicky Hilton line. "I'm not sure it's because of the product or the fact that Jennifer just isn't out there as much as she used to be, but the line isn't performing like it used to. I think the idea of the celebrity is still huge, it's just that when it comes to fashion, no one has done it well."

According to Michael Wood, vice president and director of syndicated research at Teenage Research Unlimited, the novelty of the celeb as fashion designer is gone.

continued at Podcaster News: Download "Fashiontribes Daily" podcast

Celebrating Christmas with Kimora

Extra TV - It’s Christmas with Kimora Lee Simmons, and she’s getting ready for the holidays -- Baby Phat style.

But it wouldn’t be Christmas without a fabulous photo shoot, and Kimora brought her beautiful daughters, 6-year-old Ming and 4-year-old Aoki, along to pose for an InTouch magazine photo spread, and only “Extra” was invited along for the festive fun.

The two cuties, who are used to the cameras after modeling for their mom’s Baby Phat clothing line, revealed what they asked Santa for this year.

“Puppies,” Ming said.

“And a penguin too,” Aoki chimed in.

But Mama Kimora gave the biggest gift of all to herself, telling “Extra” what she’ll find from Santa come Christmas morning.

“I custom ordered the Bentley Continental, the GT Continental, I custom ordered one in a convertible,” she confessed.

Now, that’s one happy Simmons holiday!

Burlington Coat trying to fix fake-fur faux pas

Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. conceded yesterday that it had improperly promoted a Baby Phat down jacket as having faux fur trim when the trim was real fur.

Stacy Haigney, general attorney for Burlington Coat Factory, said the company was not trying to deceive customers. "Somebody made a mistake," he said. "That's all that happened here."

The Humane Society of the United States said it faxed a letter to Burlington officials yesterday threatening legal action. It said the jacket, which came in two versions, had labels saying the trim was made of raccoon or coyote fur from China. But a company circular, its Web site, and signs within stores said the fur trim was fake, said Michael Makarian, the humane society's executive vice president.

"Especially during this holiday season, we don't want customers thinking they're buying faux fur and they're really buying fur that was ripped or peeled off the backs of animals," he said.

Haigney said stores had been ordered to take down incorrectly worded posters. The company was changing the product description on its Web site last night.

The Philadelphia Inquirer - Dec. 12, 2006

Hello Kitty Trunk Show

This feline's all grown up, thanks to Kimora Lee Simmons, who mingles diamonds, semi-precious stones and enamel with Hello Kitty's iconic image to create purrfectly unique fine jewelry.

Check out Simmon's collections including Karma Kitty, Princess Kitty, Zodiac Kitty, Action Kitty and Aloha Kitty during a trunk show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Neiman Marcus, 15900 La Cantera Parkway, San Antonio. For more information, call (210) 558-8000.

MySA.com - Dec. 13, 2006

Knockoff Goods Seized in Winston-Salem

Officers from the Winston Salem Police Department conducted an investigation at three businesses in Hanes Mall, 100 Hanes Mall Blvd. They found 3 businesses were in violation of counterfeit merchandise laws.

Just Casual, Crystal Delites, and U Name It were all found in violation of these laws. All counterfeit merchandise was seized and will be used as evidence in this investigation.

Some items include a large assortment of counterfeit handbags such as Prada, Gucci, Coach, and Chanel and jewelry with such names as Tiffany, Baby Phat, Roca Wear, MLB, Channel, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Hello Kitty, Nike, Playboy and NBA logos were seized.

Neeket Rajendra Vadgama, Sumei Ding, and Tanza Sultana Mahbuba were arrested and charged with Felony Possession of Counterfeit Merchandise.

The total counterfeit merchandise seized is valued at about $52,429. The total seized manufacturing devices are valued at $10,200. There was about $654 in cash seized, and about $33,320 in NC taxable revenue that was lost.

WFMY News 2 - Dec. 10, 2006

Diamond Empowerment Fund

As a result of acquiring firsthand facts and information on how the diamond industry contributes to the empowerment of Africa, specifically in South Africa and Botswana, the Simmons Jewelry Company, co-owned by Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons, announces the establishment of the Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.TM).

The mission of the D.E.F.TM. is to raise money for the development and empowerment of people and communities in Africa where diamonds are a natural resource. The D.E.F.TM is a non-profit international organization, established by individuals and businesses in the diamond industry and others who are committed to empowerment in Africa.

The Diamond Empowerment Fund will support educational and skill development schools, colleges and other institutions in South Africa and Botswana to enhance the economic development and empowerment of African people.

The Simmons Jewelry Company is also pleased to announce today the official launch of the Green Initiative. The purpose of the Green Initiative will be to raise funds for the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

Toward that end, the Simmons Jewelry Company has designed and is manufacturing specialized Green Initiative jewelry. Green Initiative jewelry will be sold through Simmons Jewelry Company retail partners.

Twenty-five percent of net proceeds from the sale of the Simmons Jewelry Company Green Initiative items will go to the D.E.F.TM.

The Simmons Jewelry Company delegation members - including Russell Simmons, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Scott Rauch, Linda Passaro, Gary Foster, Tangie Murray and Christina Paljusaj - arrived back in New York this morning from Johannesburg, South Africa. The delegation was accompanied on its 9-day trip by Sally Morrison and her team from the Diamond Information Center (DIC), which extended the invitation for the trip. The delegation was also accompanied by an award-winning photographic and film production team, led by Selwyn Hinds.

The fact-finding mission included a visit by the delegation with His Excellency President Festus Mogae of Botswana, as well as a tour of Botswana's Jwaneng Mine, the largest diamond mine in the world by value, the BDVC Diamond Sort House and the Eurostar diamond cutting and polishing facility. In Johannesburg, South Africa, the delegation toured the CIDA College, the only tertiary college in the world run by students, the Oppenheimer Diamond Processing Vocational School and the Soweto Community Education and Feeding Scheme, supported by DeBeers, which feeds 18,000 people per day. Before returning to the United States, Russell Simmons and Dr Benjamin Chavis flew to Maputo, Mozambique to meet with former South African President Nelson Mandela.