St. Louis native Kimora Lee Simmons, who is coming home for St. Louis Fashion Week (March 24-30), created Baby Phat in 1998 and quickly positioned it as the premier female hip-hop brand, while adding new business ventures along her way.
“I have a lot of respect for businesswomen – being one myself,” said Perchelle O’Boyle, a fashion designer and boutique owner in the new Garment District on Washington between Tucker and 14th St.
“Baby Phat has been around for a while, and most lines only have a life expectancy of 10 years – that’s a major achievement,” O’Boyle said.
O’Boyle grew up in St. Louis until her parents moved to Alabama when she was 13. Later she left for L.A. to attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
While in L.A., Perchelle sewed up a celebrity and big business clientele as a freelance custom designer – that is after, a stint with Nelly’s Apple Bottoms. Some of those big names will be here for the grand opening celebration of her boutique Perchelle on April 3.
Her original designs can be found in her boutique alongside those of internationally-known designers. One line, English Clientele, boasts such clients as Mariah Carey, Pharell, Vivica Fox and Tichina Arnold. Arnold, also a client of Perchelle’s, will be here for Perchelle’s grand opening.
English Clientele designs will be on one of the Fashion Week catwalks along with designs by Yana K.
“St. Louis is becoming a fashion spot, especially Downtown,” Perchelle said.
Downtown’s proposed Garment District will be dressed up to grab attention and announce its presence from March 16 through April 13. Janet Moore of Yani Co. is one of many local designers commissioned to adorn storefronts in the district.
Moore said it’s a good opportunity for local designers and so is St. Louis Fashion Week.
“If you are involved in fashion in anyway you should be a part of Fashion Week,” Moore said.
“This is helping to get St. Louis recognized on a national level, and with Kimora coming it’s all the better.”
Kimora is a St. Louis native who graduated from Lutheran North High School. The creator of Baby Phat will kick off the Kimora Lee Simmons’ “Fabulosity” St. Louis Fashion Week Launch Party, an invite-only shindig.
She will begin that day being honored during a ceremony at Washington University at 11 a.m. Friday, March 14. Wash. U. will bestow Kimora with the Susan Block “Silver Ripper” Award from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. She will also receive the Business in Leadership Award from License Collector Michael McMillan.
During the ceremony she’s expected to announce the “Fabulous Opportunity” Scholarship, funded by A-B. The scholarship will be presented annually to a fashion design student at Washington University.
Kimora will be followed by a crew from her reality TV show, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, now in its second season.
After a private VIP luncheon to benefit Nest – the local St. Louis Fashion Week charity – the former North County resident and her TV crew will make a public appearance from 4-6 p.m. at Macy’s inside the St. Louis Galleria. The first 25 guests with a wrapped toy will receive a copy of her new book, Fabulosity. The first 25-100 with a wrapped toy will receive a faux croc-skin journal and an autographed headshot from Kimora.
Kimora got her own start when fashion czar Karl Lagerfeld chose her to model for his esteemed House of Chanel in Paris when she was just 13.
By 16 Kimora was modeling with top models around the world and it wasn’t long before she was one herself, modeling for some of the world’s elite in fashion from Giorgio Armani to Yves St. Laurent.
And now, she is coming back home in style.
For a complete schedule of St. Louis Fashion Week events visit www.stlouisfashionweek.com
