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Kimora Lee Simmons is reflecting on a major business move from her past, revealing the financial reality behind the sale of her once-dominant fashion empire, Baby Phat.
On the Tuesday, April 7 episode of the Aspire With Emma Grede podcast, Simmons, 50, spoke about the brand, which was initially launched as a womenswear offshoot of the menswear label, Phat Farm, launched by her former husband, Russell Simmons.
The Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons label grew into one of the most recognizable brands of the early aughts. In its heyday and under Simmons as creative director and president, the brand made revenues of more than $1 billion, per Women's Wear Daily.
In 2004, American apparel manufacturer, The Kellwood Company announced its plans to acquire Baby Phat and its parent company, Phat Fashions.
Simmons says she missed the early conversations around the sale and was not aware they were happening, which made the whole experience even more eye-opening.
"You live and you learn, I probably made — I think we ended up selling ... it for 100-and-something million dollars. I probably got $20 million of that, or less. And the entire sale was based on Baby Phat," Simmons said.
According to The New York Times, the sale was valued at $140 million.
Simmons said her relaunch of Baby Phat would not only cater to the millennials who fell in love with the brand in the early 2000s, but also tap into the nostalgia trend Gen Z-ers had embraced in recent years.
"I call it kind of a relaunch. I just think because of everything we've been through, throughout COVID and everything, it seems like your life is always a relaunch every time you give birth to a different iteration of, you know, your baby, which this is," Simmons told PEOPLE exclusively.
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