Kimora Lee is done letting everybody else hold the pen. The Baby Phat founder and former supermodel is stepping into a new chapter with her Lifetime documentary, Kimora Lee: On Her Own. Watch the trailer inside.
Lee’s Lifetime documentary promises to unpack the glamour, family drama, business battles and personal heartbreak that have shaped her life. And yes, she is doing it without the Simmons attached to her name.
In an exclusive first look, People reveals an emotional trailer in which Kimora reflects on becoming a major fashion figure while still a teenager. She describes the glamorous side of her early career, including becoming one of Karl Lagerfeld’s youngest Chanel models, before acknowledging the darker experiences that came with growing up in an industry that could be anything but glamorous.
“I’ve seen the monsters,” Kimora says in the trailer.
And sis is apparently ready to tell us what she saw.
Kimora Is Reclaiming Her Name
Kimora famously became Kimora Lee Simmons after marrying Russell Simmons in 1998. The pair later separated and divorced in 2009 after building Baby Phat into a major fashion brand.
Now, she is simply Kimora Lee.
The decision feels intentional. Lifetime’s announcement describes the documentary as an intimate look at Kimora’s journey from teenage fashion model to entrepreneur, mother and cultural trailblazer. The film features interviews with her children, family, friends and collaborators while revisiting her marriages, divorces, motherhood and business career.
Kimora is also sharing that this is not another version of her story filtered through somebody else.
“Someone else always holding the pen. Not anymore,” she says in the Lifetime press announcement.
The Glamour Comes With Receipts
The trailer gets emotional as Kimora reflects on everything she has experienced publicly and privately. At one point, she breaks down and describes her journey as painful, asking to be left alone.
Her history with Russell Simmons has remained complicated in the years since their divorce, including public disputes and allegations against Simmons that he has denied. People also report that Kimora has faced a lawsuit from Simmons involving allegations concerning stocks.
But the documentary seems less interested in rehashing old headlines than in letting Kimora finally frame the story herself.
And after decades of being somebody’s model, somebody’s wife, somebody’s ex and everybody’s headline, she has apparently decided it is time to be Kimora.
As she puts it in the trailer, “When life gives you coal, press it into a diamond.”
Kimora Lee: On Her Own premieres September 20 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
