The Ousting of Kimora: Why It Was Good for Baby Phat
Kimora Lee Simmons is stealing the spotlight again. The glamazon former model and creative director of Baby Phat just got toppled from her design throne, and all anyone can talk about is how quickly "life in the fab lane" can go all broke ass. But Simmons is just a blingy pawn in parent company Kellwood's strategic game of retail brand building. A pawn the company's willing to lose in favor of improving its total profile.
Bankrolled to the tune of $3 billion by private-equity firm Sun Capital, Kellwood's CEO Mike Kramer has been charged with building the company's brand portfolio beyond such tired names as Sag Harbor (sold in Kohl's and Sears). The day after the news broke about Kimora getting canned, Kellwood announced that it purchased Adam, a small sportswear company sold at such luxe outlets as Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
Kramer told WWD that he's looking for "four or five embryonic brands that we can nurture and foster and hopefully help become big." Firms with annual volume between $200 million and $300 million will be considered, as well as smaller ones like Adam.
This wouldn't be the first time Kellwood's had to retrench and reconfigure its portfolio. Back in 2007 when the company was still publicly traded, revenues didn't reflect the (bloated) stable of recognized names (think Liz Claiborne, Hanna Anderssen) . During that time, Russell Simmons, founder of Phat Farm and Kimora's ex, stepped down from his position at the helm (that was after he snapped up a cool $140 million from Kellwood for Phat and its ancillary lines).
Kimora was quickly installed as creative director over all things Phat, and that's where the trouble began. While she was still married to Simmons, they became a power couple to be reckoned with, he building a corporate empire and she cultivating a lifestyle that was beyond ostentatious.
Not satisfied with her level of exposure apres divorce, Kimora landed Life in the Fab Lane, a reality show on the E! network. Weekly updates of her fiercely controlling management style and outrageous demands on everyone from employees to friends and family ensued, revealing that the woman might have some business acumen, but she was much more about the trappings (less glitter on the runway floor â€"- LESS GLITTER!) than her company's bottom line.
Team Kellwood must have been wringing their hands. Though reality shows have parlayed many a mediocre talent to stardom, it's not likely that The Fab Lane was fast tracking sales of Kimora's apparel and accessories.
It's rumored that Kimora took her personal spending habits (think $200K designer bed) with her into the office, allegedly even paying her children fees to appear in ads for the brand.
Whether or not the rumors are true, if Kellwood is in the midst of a high-profile corporate makeover, ousting Kimora was a wise move. She'll likely manage to scrape together an entity and continue to peddle fragrances, bijoux, and threads to devotees of her flamboyant style. And Kellwood can move forward in a much more understated way.
Image via Dare Me
Related: