If you know Kimora Lee Simmons, those four words are almost a thesis statement. They’re dramatic but playful, exasperated but glamorous, chaotic yet somehow centered. They’re Kimora — the original “extra,” the blueprint for flashy-with-purpose femininity — summed up in one exhale.
And nowhere is that more evident than in the now-viral clip from the early 2000s reality show Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. In the scene, Kimora unleashes a string of complaints that would make any overstressed mom or fashion girlie nod in recognition. She’s hungry. She’s dieting. She’s hot. She’s irritated. Her granola isn’t granola-ing. Her period just ended. She can’t find the right pill. She can’t figure out what to eat. It is, in short, “just one of those days.”
That unfiltered, glamorous messiness has long been the magic of Kimora. She embodied something TV hadn’t really seen before: a woman who was both aspirational and shockingly relatable at the same time. She could command rooms and run empires in stiletto heels, but she could also spiral about snacks and makeup in the same breath. Before phrases like “soft life” went mainstream, before TikTokers built careers around “girl math,” before everybody decided to chronicle their micro-inconveniences online, Kimora was already doing all of it. And she was doing it with rhinestones, couture, and Baby Phat glow.
Now, decades after she helped shape the reality TV landscape, she’s back where she belongs — on camera, in control, and fully in her Fab Lane era again.
Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane airs Tuesdays on E!, and for Kimora, the timing couldn’t feel more right.
A Return to the Medium She Helped Define
Sitting in a Manhattan studio, Kimora starts to fall into another one of those spiraling lists — the cardigan is off, the makeup isn’t behaving, there’s a problem with the day’s vibe — before catching herself and redirecting. Positivity. Focus. Fabulosity.
This small moment says everything about the version of Kimora we’re seeing now. She’s still dramatic, still hilarious, still the glamorous tornado audiences fell in love with. But she’s grounded too, self-aware, intentional. She’s lived too much life to be anything but.
For years, producers and networks approached her with reality show offers, but Kimora kept saying no. It wasn’t the right fit. The ensemble casts weren’t her lane. The timing felt off.
“This is more my lane,” she tells USA TODAY. “This is where I belong. The timing was right.”
It’s poetic that the woman who helped make early-2000s reality TV iconic would wait almost two decades before returning — and in a pop-culture moment where Y2K is resurging, Baby Phat nostalgia is booming, and her influence is being rediscovered by a new generation.
The Baby Phat Blueprint
Kimora’s lore is legendary. Discovered in St. Louis at 13, she walked for Karl Lagerfeld, Fendi, Armani, and Valentino before she was old enough to vote. She was towering, biracial, magnetic — the kind of beauty fashion didn’t know it needed until she appeared.
Before she turned 18, she met Russell Simmons. By 1998, she was married, and together they built a billion-dollar cultural empire that would shape the fashion language of the early 2000s. Baby Phat wasn’t just a brand; it was a movement. The jeweled cat logo became a symbol of sexy streetwear luxury, worn by Beyoncé, Aaliyah, Madonna, Britney Spears, and millions of everyday women who saw themselves reflected in Kimora’s aesthetic vision.
“It was just a culmination of all of the hottest stuff,” she says. “And that to me was my version of the American Dream.”
When Life in the Fab Lane premiered in 2007, viewers finally saw the woman behind the brand — juggling motherhood, business meetings, fashion shows, and her signature blend of boss energy and chaotic charm. The show ran for four seasons and cemented her as a reality TV pioneer.
She did everything early: early marriage, early motherhood, early business ownership, early fame. But those early years also sharpened her instincts. They gave her the wisdom — and the receipts — to back up every mogul move she makes now.
Today, Kimora owns stakes in major companies including Celsius. She reacquired Baby Phat in 2019, reclaiming the brand that helped define an era. She’s not just reviving nostalgia; she’s reviving a legacy she built with her own hands.
Redefining Fabulosity in 2025
Back in the 2000s, Kimora famously declared: “Fabulosity is a state of being.”
Now, at 50, she says that definition keeps evolving.
“Fabulosity is defined and redefined every day. For me, it’s triumph: I made it. It’s success.”
This new chapter of Fab Lane is calmer, wiser, and more rooted in family — but no less fabulous.
She wants her fans to see themselves in her journey: the wins, the messes, the balancing acts, the reinvention. She wants to uplift them. Encourage them. Show them what’s possible, especially for women who feel like they don’t fit the mold of a traditional mogul.
Because Kimora never has. And that’s exactly why she continues to matter.
Motherhood: Her Most Rewarding Role
Despite her empire, the job Kimora talks about with the most pride — and humor — is being a mom.
She has five children she’s raising: Ming (25), Aoki (23), Kenzo (16), Gary (16), and Wolfe (10). Then she laughs and says, “I honestly have at least 10 kids.” Because beyond her biological children, her home has always been a revolving door of love, support, and community.
That includes her “bonus son,” 19-year-old Jayden, a friend of her son’s who moved in with the family. And it includes Jessie and D’Lila Combs — the 18-year-old twin daughters of her late friend Kim Porter and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“We live very close to each other, literally walking distance across the street,” she says. “I have my eye on them, as I have since they were born. I was in the room when they were born. I love them. I’m so proud of them.”
This blended, bustling household is part of what brings fresh life to Back in the Fab Lane. Viewers aren’t just watching a mogul revive an empire. They’re watching a mother guide young adults through life, college, modeling careers, emotional growth, and everyday chaos.
They’re watching a modern matriarch.
The Calm After All the Storms
Kimora has been through a lot. Public marriages, public divorces, major business shifts, media scrutiny, motherhood, lawsuits, loss, reinvention after reinvention. But she’s emerged with an energy that’s softer and stronger at the same time.
She’s still outspoken. Still dramatic. Still fabulous. But she’s also centered on purpose. Her return to reality TV isn’t about spectacle; it’s about connection.
She wants to show women — especially women who grew up watching her — that success isn’t a straight line. It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s exhausting. And it’s worth it.
A Pioneer Returning to Her Kingdom
In many ways, Kimora Lee Simmons is returning to reality TV at the perfect moment. Fashion is rediscovering bold femininity. Teens who weren’t yet born during Baby Phat’s heyday are calling her an icon. Nostalgia for early-2000s aesthetics is peaking. And, most importantly, Kimora herself is ready to reclaim her own story.
The new Fab Lane isn’t about showcasing the excess of wealth or the shock value of drama. It’s about the woman behind all of it — navigating motherhood, reclaiming her empire, and redefining fabulosity for a new generation.
She’s not just making a comeback.
She’s reminding the world that she never really left.
And now, with cameras rolling again, Kimora Lee Simmons is stepping back into the spotlight she built — one rhinestone, one runway, one chaotic, fabulous day at a time.