Baby Phat Going Bankrupt?

Published by Dior Noir on Monday, July 13, 2009 at 3:00 pm.

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It’s real in these streets for celebrity fashion lines! Last month Jennifer Lopez’s clothing line Sweetface went bankrupt and now Kimora Lee Simmon’s line Baby Phat might be headed for the same fate.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Kellwood Co. – an apparel manufacturer who’s brand’s include Baby Phat, Fabulosity, Phat Farm, Vince, and Xoxo, among others – may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if they can’t come up with the money to pay a $140 million bond issue by Wednesday. Kellwood has over $500 million in debt and $800 million in annual sales and according to the report “the twin effects of a heavy debt load and a sharp drop in consumer spending have crushed the company’s financial results.”

Russell Simmons launched Phat Farm clothing in 1992, while his, then wife, model/designer Kimora Lee Simmons, started Baby Phat in 1999. Russell sold Phat Farm and Baby Phat to Kellwood in 2004 for $142 million in cash plus performance incentives (at least he cashed out before the hard times hit!) though Kimora retained her position as “principal creative arbiter” for Baby Phat.

So if it all falls down Kimora (and some 2,000 employees that Kellwood employs) might be out of a job and we may see the end of Baby Phat clothing. You mad?

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Comments

Stephanie Said on

Not at all. Baby Phat was too! too! high anyway. Maybe if they had made it for the average Americans can purchase they may not be in bankruptcy. I have purchased some things for my grandchildren but not much. And the purses look cheap. Their eyeglasses are really overpriced. So I’m not surprised one bit.



Erica Said on

Hell yeah i’m mad.. That i didnt know they sold the company and don’t really put in work at all. LOL hell naw



Pammie Said on

I WOULD BE TRUELY UPSET…AND FOR ANYONE TO SAY THAT BABYPHAT IS TO EXPENSIVE…YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO SHOP….BABYPHAT IS CHEAPER THAN A WHOLE LOT OF DESIGNERS OUT THEIR….DO YOUR RESEARCH..MY NUMBER ONE DESIGNER…I WOULD HATE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN..



miss_t Said on

Baby phat is was overpriced for what it is.

Who still wears Baby Phat anyway?



miss_t Said on

Naah Pammie,

Baby Phat is definitely overpriced for what it is (an URBAN clothing line.) The clothes really aren’t that great and not that great quality.

Half the clothing looks tacky, with the “baby phat” logo spread across the tee or jean pocket making one look like a “walking billboard.” People that rock “baby phat” are just giving Kimora free promo.

You can get much better “designer” clothes that are of a much higher status for the price “baby phat” gets sold at.



watt Said on

HELL NO I NEVER LIKE BABY PHAT ANY WAY AND THE PRICES WERE TO HIGH. KIMORA JUST GOT LUCKY WHEN SHE GOT RUSSELL SIMMONS AND HAD HIS KIDS, BECAUSE WHAT SHE GET IN CHILD SUPPORT IS CARZY AND HE IS CRAZY FOR GIVING IT. GOOD THING HE SOLD IT.



EdnaLee Said on

I’m not mad..Kimora was a greedy gold-digger. She got what she wanted and split..too bad she didn’t have business sense. Russel was better off without her, just like J-Lo who climbed up on Diddy’s coat tails. Don’t celebrities know when they’re being used? Baby Phat was too high. I have 3 boys and to ‘fit’ them in baby phat would break me..Target has nice clothes..just sew baby phat labels on and there you have it. That’s all you pay for is the label!!!



Shawn Said on

HELL NAW I’M NOT MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… Kimora Lee’s clothes were to DAMN HIGH ANYWAY!!!!… She made her pants for chinese women, black nice curvey big booty women couldn’t fit in her jeans anyway!!!!….She should have made her clothing affordable anyways too!!!!…She spent to much money on herself at that all the time.MS. BLING BLING you AINT BLINGIN NOW HA HA HA HA!!!!!!



VALADY Said on

Naw im not mad at it..i agree with every1 who says babyphat cost 2 much anyway. people can’t afford thoes high a_s clothes, and be able to pay their bills…she should have made if more affordable 4 the streets



b_icey21 Said on

Someone mentioned earlier that Kimora was just a gold digger and I really don’t think that’s true. Her and Russell’s marriage had run its course and gladly she has new found love. Now as far as the Baby Phat clothing line, yea it could be expensive at times, but sometimes it would get sent to outlets or prices would be cut. And the only thing I could not grasp were the concept of their shoes. They looked a bit stripperish lol (if that was a word). But it does suck because we are in a recession so maybe they should have tried to lower those prices.



Cee Said on

Nope I’m not mad. Babyphat looked cheap. My niece in-law was turning 2 and her mother keeps her in babyphat clothes so I went to the site to order her something. Got a good deal over the net for something that would have been much higher in the stores because the things I ordered were basically half price. But when I got the items I said to myself how in the hell do people buy this sh*t. It was cheaply made and like someone else said the logo was big as the shirt. The jeans were ok but also with big logo on leg & back pocket. I bet they only really paid $5 to make the whole outfit and charge $60 to the consumer. Not only did the outfit look cheaply made, it’s tacky. I don’t know about the adults but the kids clothes have no color or imagination, like most kids clothes. Kimora was getting over, goodbye to a bad clothing line that was suppose to be urban inspired. Glad I taught my kids not to go all out on name brand items because that’s all you pay for THE NAME!



bxhonee Said on

Yeah those clothes looked so cheap! Kimora is a crook for selling her 2 dollar shirts for that much. Im sad to see it go for the fact that it is kimora. She is just so fabulous. But those clothes smh. She know better than that. Her kids don’t even where that crap in the stores. And niether does she. That should tell us something. And I agree with everyone who said that stuff was tacky. She literally had plain white shirts that just said baby phat by blah blah blah. I mean come on. You expect stuff like that to fly off the racks



JESSIBABI Said on

I’M NOT A BIG FAN BUT MY BFF IS AND I’M SURE SHE WILL BE HEART BROKEN.



Faboulous Said on

I love Baby Phat. You just need to know how to shop and dress but because I live in London I always have to get it off the internet or ask someone to get me a couple of things when they go to the states. I’m not ballin at all, far from but I think the prices are reasonable for what they sell. Thier coats are too fly and I got a real nice pair of boots as a present the other day.
I will be real sad if there is no more Baby Phat!!!



Amaya Said on

I think the clothes are too expensive to be an urban clothing line. If the clothes were reasonable maybe they would not be filing bankruptcy. I hope that does not happen though because there is a lot of people out there that is rockin’n the clothing line and will buy it no matter how much it cost. I say pay your rent first…Lol!



southsidequeen Said on

I have some Baby Phat jeans that are of pretty good quality. Please believe Baby Phat is making money. If none of the other brands are saved, Baby Phat will be saved. I was disappointed that the shirts are made so cheap. I had better expectations of the brand. I feel like they feel that people will pay a lot of money for cheap goods just because they have the name brand on it. You really have to know how to buy quality products. Truth be told, I have two pair of Baby Phat jeans, so I’m basically straight. I do not want to see Baby Phat go away. I wish they would put out some clothes that are not so hood. Even though I live in the hood, I do not want everything I wear to look hood. I like to look classy sometime. Why are people complaining about the price. Either you can afford it or you can not. Nobody complained when some of the European brand jeans was high as the sky.



southsidequeen Said on

I must say that the European brand jeans were of much better quality than Baby Phat. I have no problem with the price. I do have a problem with the quality of some of the items.



Baby Phat Going Bankrupt? Said on

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eb Said on

Hi errrbody! (lol) Honestly its not that expensive, you can always find it at outlets or on sale. I must agree with the people who commented on the quality of the clothing. The adult line is not so bad, you just need to have some slight textile knowledge. But the girls line…even when it was a “must have” in urban fashion, was really garbage. Just looking at all the elastic bunched up in the back of the jeans, the poor dye jobs, and ill fitting cheap fabrics disappointed me( because I am a fan of Kimora’s). As far as it being over priced for “URBAN” wear..and being tacky…Who said urban wear had to be cheap, and if you dont like it dont buy it…its not for you. I predict some of the other urban lines will follow BP, mainly because they lack true design and quality as well. Respect your consumer urban designers, we know there is more to fashion than writing your name and logo all over a pair of jeans or a shirt. The days are coming to an end where people purchase clothing just for the name.