Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons is a privately held American apparel brand established in 1999 by fashion model, creative director, and entrepreneur, Kimora Lee Simmons. Initially launched as a womenswear offshoot of the menswear label, Phat Farm, Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons eventually grew into a comprehensive lifestyle brand that is widely regarded as one of the most definitive brands of the early aughts era. Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons was re-launched in December 2019. Brand History Baby Phat was first introduced in 1993. The fledgling brand offered a small line of fitted women’s T-shirts under the umbrella of Russell Simmons-owned Phat Fashions LLC, a business entity created primarily to operate the men’s streetwear label, Phat Farm. By the mid-nineties, corporate restructuring of Phat Fashions had stalled the development of Baby Phat. Russell Simmons then partnered with apparel manufacturer Turbo Sportswear to form a new company called the American Design Group (ADG), to which the master license for Phat Farm apparel was awarded. ADG later announced that it would relaunch Baby Phat through a number of licensing agreements. Following her marriage to Russell Simmons In 1998, Kimora Lee Simmons was presented with a prototype of a women’s T-shirt from Phat Farm. Simmons was disappointed with the sample, later describing it as a "very athletic and basic, scaled-down version of what a guy would wear." Drawing on her experience as a fashion model, Simmons decided to step into the role of designer and creative director to create a collection that she thought better represented what women would actually want to wear, and in 1999 Baby Phat By Kimora Lee Simmons launched. Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons began with low-rise jeans and tops adorned with a rhinestone curved cat logo inspired by her pet Siamese cat, Max. Simmons later said she created the collection because "women — especially women of color — had no voice in the streetwear industry. It’s in our DNA; this brand is created for women, by women." Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons’s first solo show took place during New York Fashion Week in 2000. The show was streamed live from its venue at Radio City Music Hall to the Jumbrotron in Times Square. Like Phat Farm before it, Baby Phat candidly celebrated black culture, resulting in its pigeonhole as an “urban” brand by fashion’s elite. Baby Phat circumvented the fashion industry’s traditional paths