Young Kimora Lee Timeline: from Teenage Supermodel to Mogul Empire

Breaking down the facts behind Young Kimora Lee Timeline: from Teenage Supermodel to Mogul Empire—uncover the essential highlights.

Simmons grew up in northern St. Louis County, Missouri, raised primarily by her Japanese-Korean mother, Joanne Perkins. Her father, Vernon Whitlock Jr., was African American. Standing nearly 5-foot-10 by the time she turned 10 years old, Simmons faced relentless teasing from peers who targeted her height and mixed racial heritage.

To build her daughter's self-esteem, Perkins enrolled 11-year-old Kimora in modeling classes. The decision paid off almost immediately. At age 13, Simmons attended a model search hosted by the French agency Kay Model Management, where European scouts spotted her singular look and towering proportions. Within months, she was packing luggage for Paris, leaving midwestern classrooms behind for apartment living in the 8th arrondissement. She was barely an adolescent, yet fashion houses were already categorizing her as an anomaly with immense commercial and artistic promise.