Kimora Lee Simmons Is Saving ‘Everything’ in Her Closet for Daughter Ming Lee: ‘I Have a Great Collection’ (Exclusive)

In the Simmons household, it’s not about “Who wore it best,” but rather, “Who wears it next.”

For this week’s World’s Most Beautiful issue, Kimora Lee Simmons, 50, watched as her mini-me daughter Ming Lee, 25, got all dolled up in one of mom’s favorite dresses from the archives. Then the two got candid about their style, both shared and individual.

If you ask Kimora, her daughter Ming is her carbon copy—from her features (she has “like, my whole face,” laughs Kimora) to her aesthetic (“she’s completely taken all of my style,” adds the supermodel and fashion designer).

Ming, Kimora’s oldest daughter with ex husband Russell Simmons, disagrees: “My mom dresses very street-style; she’ll wear hoodies, sneakers.” The NYU graduate prefers a preppier look. “I wear loafers and low-rise jeans. I don’t think you’ve ever even worn a polo shirt,” she says to her mom.

Jerritt Clark/Getty Kimora Lee Simmons in 2011 — Jerritt Clark/Getty
Kimora Lee Simmons in 2011

The duo—who are currently filming a new reality show alongside Ming’s four siblings—do share a love of at least one garment: Kimora’s skintight vintage Dolce & Gabbana leopard-print pencil dress that she wore first to her 30th birthday back in 2005, then again again in 2011 (pictured above).

“I was actually going to wear this for my 25th-birthday dress,” says Ming. “But I didn’t end up doing anything.”

Born into the fashion world, Ming was famously brought out by her mom at the end of her Baby Phat runway shows—but seeing her daughter now all grown up in her dress is even more emotional for Kimora: “She looks stunning. I don’t think I looked that good in it.”

And Ming has a lot more hand-me-downs to look forward to.

“Everything. Everything,” Kimora says of what she’s planning to pass down to Ming and her other daughters. “That’s why I don’t understand why Ming wants to come here and be Miss Independent today. Everything! All my bags, I have a great collection of bags. I have great luggage. I have great jewelry. Even if it’s not pieces that you would wear today — it’s too bling bling for you — but I have great stuff!”

Adds Kimora, “I have assets. I have property. I have information. I have family heirlooms that are like vintage, fabulous Chanel from years [ago]. So I think I have a pretty good collection.”

On the flip side, Kimora says Ming has gifted her with the inspiration to live life to the fullest. “I feel like Mingy is very much at the age where she’s like a young lady. She’s very much a social butterfly. She just went to Coachella. I see all these moments with her and her friends that to me are really fun. I never really got to live all that fun and do all those things. I was probably, I don’t know, working too young and I don’t think I got to live it up like that.”

Adds Ming, “When it’s just me and my friends, that feels really good, that we didn’t need anyone else and we’re just together.” For once the two agree. Says Kimora, “To be able to experience that power outside of the confines or the definition of a man per se, a relationship per se, I think that’s really powerful. And I feel like I see her living that all the time and I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s fun.’ “

When was the last time you critiqued what the other person was wearing?

Ming: This morning when we got in the car. You were like, “Why are you wearing those slippers?” And I was like, “Ma’am, why are you wearing that hoodie?”

Kimora: They’re furry, like Chewbacca slippers. They look very trendy. I feel like Ming sets the trends — that’s one thing.

Do you have any fashion regrets?

Ming: When I used to wear colored hair — I did so many [colors]. I had a blue wig. One of my best friends makes fun of me every day for it. She sends me the photo. Some of them weren’t bad, but the blue one was bad.

Kimora: I don’t think I have regrets. Do I have regrets? She’ll probably tell me what they were. I think I’m probably right down the middle in terms of fashion or red carpet. I’m not overly avant-garde. I’m not overly grungy, if it’s not the moment. I think I’m kind of down the middle. I might be colorful, whereas her color palette is more demure.

Robin Harper Kimora Lee - Helsa dress. Dolce & Gabbana heels. Talent’s own jewelry. Ming Lee - Vintage Dolce & Gabbana dress. Alevì Milano heels. Talent’s own jewelry. — Robin Harper
Kimora Lee – Helsa dress. Dolce & Gabbana heels. Talent’s own jewelry. Ming Lee – Vintage Dolce & Gabbana dress. Alevì Milano heels. Talent’s own jewelry.

How would you define beauty right now? When do you feel most beautiful?

Kimora: I would define beauty as being fiercely independent. I would define beauty as being unapologetic. I would define beauty as feeling, doing everything for yourself that’s sexy and great. I would define beauty as self-care. I would define beauty as anything that enriches the essence of us as women or as women and men.

Ming: I like when you said you define beauty as self-care. When you take care of yourself, you’re beautiful. You’re confident. … I feel most beautiful when I’m clean. Literally, this morning when I took. shower, I was like, “This is amazing.”

Kimora: When do I feel the most beautiful? I think it’s probably some time of my own at home with my family, when I’m kind of not really glamorous like this. If I’m all dolled up — and obviously it takes a team — and when you get the magic of that team and you’re out on the red carpet, I feel pretty beautiful then, too. But I think it’s my moments at home when I’m completely the opposite.