Fashion's Abusive Step Father

I've been bitching and moaning about the way Kellwood Company handled the separation with Kimora Lee Simmons for months now and I hadn't considered that this is actually a systemic problem--a situation even worse than I realized. I watch a lot of fashion documentaries and biopics. I love them. I think fashion designers have some of the most imaginative minds among us and I love having the opportunity to either see what makes them tick or to see them in action.

This past weekend, I decided I'd finally watch Valentino: The Last Emperor. It had been in my Netflix queue for months and months, but I ended up watching it on Showtime On Demand. It was an absolute feast for the senses. The fashion was intense and emotions were extremely raw. But, what struck me most was the way in which Valentino Garavani was treated throughout the film by the goon from the Marzotto family (Yes, he's handsome, but I don't want to hear it!). The Marzottos owned a majority stake in the company at the time the film was being produced and Matteo Marzotto, aforementioned goon, was President of the Valentino fashion house.

It was very obvious that there was a power struggle underway between the older Valentino and much younger Marzotto, who was over Valentino's shoulder constantly throughout the film, even going so far as to offer suggestions about the designs, which I thought was a horrible insult. During one scene, Marzotto laughs with the film crew stating [about Valentino], "He's like an old lion. He keeps trying to roar. Trying to say something, but nothing comes out." It was so disrespectful. Even if he didn't think that they'd include it in the film, he should've had more respect for the man who did so much to shape the fashion world.

I don't want to review the whole damn documentary, but I have to give you some context for what I'm getting at with the title of this post. So, I'm watching this power struggle play out, rife with disrespect, and it occurred to me that Valentino was being treated that way because he was an old man and Marzotto wanted him gone. Much in the same way Kellwood Company seemed to have bullied Kimora Lee Simmons out of Phat Fashions because she's a woman of color...and they wanted her gone.

The one big difference here is this. As it turns out, the filming of the documentary coincided with the 45th anniversary of Valentino Garavani's reign. Without hesitation, at least on camera, it was understood that there should be a celebration like no other to commemorate the occasion. Now, of course Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino's long-time partner, probably had a lot to do with making sure that things were done properly, but the fact that it did occur speaks volumes about Kellwood Company's dismissive attitude towards Kimora and the buyers of the Phat Fashions brands. She'd been there for over a decade, having made a mark all over this globe, and...nothing? Just "change the locks" and then treat buyers of the brands like idiots? As though we wouldn't notice the freefall in quality?

Another small difference is the fact that at least Marzotto and subsequent majority owners Permira, made a legitimate attempt to improve the Valentino brand....well, sales at least. These assholes have damn near run this thing into the ground and they've done it almost overnight! I checked the Baby Phat twitter account tonight and they've lost over six thousand followers in the last few months alone. Those numbers are going to keep dropping as more people learn that Kimora is no longer heading up the brand and why.

But, at the heart of all of this rambling (yes, there's a point) is the fact that the fashion world is being taken over by investment groups, who get a thrill out of taking fashion houses and flipping them like row houses in so many large urban cities. Except the majority of them are like sturdy, reliable, and highly valuable, old brownstones in Manhattan that just need a little work done to them to restore them to their full prior glory.

Sun Capital Partner's takeover of Kellwood Company reeks of the ridiculousness of this thing--have bankers and investment heads tell designers how to do what they do best. I'm sure maintaining a fine balance between unbridled creativity and the need to ensure that sales remain solid is tough, but what draws people to a brand is the creative flair, not that it has a great revenue sheet.

There was a very telling statement by a woman in the film, Valentino: The Last Emperor, who proclaimed that investment firms are taking over much of the fashion world and subsequently turning once iconic brands into poorly made, mass-produced offerings, focusing solely on sales and taking all of the heart and soul out of them. It's very unfortunate.

Of course, the majority of the populace can't afford a Valentino gown, but the very existence of those gowns affects us all. It's art, and who wants to live in a world where a visit to the Louvre yields a look at a paint by numbers version of da Vinci's Mona Lisa completed by a guy working on his PhD in Calculus? I, for one, do not. Fashion deserves the same amount of respect, instead of this knocking around it's been getting from these abusive stepfathers in the business world. --Sugar

PhotoShop THIS, Bitch

Kellwood, I don't even have time to parse out all of the times you bastards and some new mysterious visitor, that I just KNOW is connected to you, have been over this site and today has been a pretty happy one for Team Fabulosity. So, in honor of Kimora's photo shoot today, I simply urge you to E.A.D. Sick of you bastards. --Sugar

WHAT Are You Looking For?!

When, I checked the stats earlier today, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw listing after listing after listing in the pageloads with "Kellwood Company" and "Morgan, Lewis, Bockius". Oh yeah, pageloads are different from the "visits". Pageloads give a better idea of what a person has been looking at while visiting a website and both Kellwood and those worms at Morgan Lewis have been crawling all over this blog today. Why? What are you looking for?

And, I saw that ridiculously desperate tweet you sent at the Baby Phat twitter page and it proves that you dummies screwed up when you dismissed Kimora as an after-thought. Baby Phat has been around for more than a decade and you damn fools are begging for customers? Know why you're begging for customers for a well-established brand? Because you threw the baby out with the bathwater. I don't know what happened behind closed doors between you dummies and Kimora, but it's a safe bet that with the sorry way you handled this, it was all you. And, you're paying for it dearly, literally, because of it.

The real customer base is turning away from you as the word spreads. Giving you a big ole fat f*ck you. My sentiments exactly. No respect? No dollars. Don't buy any apparel from them. Nothing.

If you want to support, Kimora, visit her website KLS.com. Fragrances always make an excellent holiday gift. :) The song below is dedicated to Kellwood and Morgan Lewis for today's action here at this lowly little blog. --Sugar

For Whom the Tweet...Tweets

Twitter has proven itself a valuable marketing tool for businesses in every industry. It has especially done so for the world of fashion. Within seconds, a designer is able to reach tens of thousands, or even millions, with news about a new product or service. So, an individual tweeter's relationship with his, her or its followers is extremely important.

Kimora Lee Simmons has done a remarkable job of not only nurturing a relationship with her supporters, she is also building an even greater following at an amazing speed. This blog is dedicated wholly to supporting her new efforts and at crushing any future success of the "new" Baby Phat due to Kellwood Company's disgusting dismissal of Kimora just a few weeks ago as creative director of the brand. A dismissal that they have yet to refute was in part due to her then alleged size 10 frame. So, imagine my surprise when a few events surrounding the Baby Phat twitter page recently transpired.

A couple of weeks ago, a quick search for the page revealed that it had been deleted. I mean, it was just gone. Vanished. Nothing. So, a few days ago, one of Kimora's young followers announced that there was a new Baby Phat twitter page, but its tweets were "protected". As in, you had to have permission to follow them and read whatever they tweeted. That doesn't make any damn sense. It defeats the purpose of a business having an account, so I figured they were working on the page and they didn't want to unprotect the tweets until they'd gotten it finished.

I checked the page today and it's not a new page at all. It's the same old page, with a different background and now a blank icon (it used to be Max the Cat), but the same old tweets from before are there, with the ones that mention Kimora noticeably gone. What the hell are they up to? They are currently only being followed by 33 thousand people, but they used to be followed by close to 100 thousand. They aren't following anyone although they must have been following Kimora, at least at some point, because she sent a tweet last week that had her followers abuzz for a while. She tweeted:

do NOT follow me @babyphat! im NO longer there! @OFFICIALKIMORA has left the fuggen building! Pls RT! #TeamFabulosity my loves, lets do tha dam thang!! #fb

I'm not sure whether the onslaught of retweets shook them up or whether Kimora blocked them, but they aren't following anyone today....

I don't also know whether that is an actual Kellwood owned Baby Phat page or whether a fan started it, but considering the fact that the old tweets are there, I'm guessing that Kellwood does own it. If so, who is the moron who's operating it? It's bad enough that they've hijacked the company, refusing to give the customer base a proper explanation for the rude dismissal of Kimora, but this Twitter move is like, what the fugg? It shows how lost they are without her. They don't know what to do. They realize that the customer base is more quickly being informed about what they did and they don't like it. Well, too damn bad. I predict that by next year this time, Baby Phat will be closing up shop and Kimora Lee Simmons will be an even more powerful force in the world of fashion than ever before.

Don't buy any clothing items from Baby Phat or Phat Farm. Nothing. No respect? No dollars. They can go to hell. --Sugar

Right Around the Clock

The past few weeks have been very refreshing and enlightening where this boycott is concerned. For one, there are still people out there who have no clue that Kimora Lee Simmons was so rudely dismissed from Baby Phat/Phat Fashions and two, we are reaching them. As I've stated here before, the reaction is always one of disgust and outrage.

I had a very interesting conversation via Twitter with a young lady yesterday who freely admitted that she was a size 16. When I revealed to her that Kimora was allegedly dismissed from Baby Phat in part due to her alleged size 10 figure (a woman who's had 3 children mind you), she immediately began swearing and declared that she wouldn't buy any additional Baby Phat items. She declared her continuing support for Kimora and told me how grateful she was that I'd told her the news. This didn't have to be this way. It shouldn't be this way.

Reactions like that are the reason why those lilly-livered cowards at Kellwood Company declined to make a formal statement or send Kimora off with dignity and class. They knew the customer base would be pissed. What they don't know is, or at least they don't seem to want to face, when the women of this nation as a whole find out? It's a wrap. All of those brands are going to crumble apart. Do dirt, get dirt. I told your asses that I wouldn't stop if it took me a year to make sure that everyone knew about this. I mean that.

See how that visit number keeps going up? Those are unique visitors. Let's say for instance that each of those people only tells two people and those two people tell two people and on and on and on. You get the drift...I'm on you, Kellwood. Right around the fugging clock. Even when I wake up at night, insomniac that I am, I check twitter to see if some other poor unsuspecting soul has sent Kimora some "Oh, how I love Baby Phat", tweet and immediately I let them know the deal. They always react the same. Fugg Kellwood. This will continue. You don't treat people like this. We will see to it that you don't get away with it. No respect? No dollars. I know you mad, but so what? --Sugar

Baby Phat Counterfeiter Sentenced, Not the Only Fake

Now, this is mighty funny considering that a bunch of fake asses are running Baby Phat as I type this. Earlier this week, a Clinton, Iowa man was sentenced to more than 3 years in prison for trafficking counterfeit goods by top designers, including Baby Phat, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Chanel and Nike. From the Quad City Times:

Charles Edwin Sampson-Snyder, 56, who operates a store named Bama's or Bama & Heather Clothing, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Davenport in February.

He admitted to purchasing and selling $100,000 worth of counterfeit merchandise.

Maybe he was working for Kellwood Company because they damn sure are doing a lot of poaching and counterfeiting right now themselves with their failure to formally let the Baby Phat customer base know that Kimora Lee Simmons is no longer heading up the brand.

Don't buy any apparel from them. Nothing. Not even a pack of shoestrings. The cowardly bastards haven't had the decency to speak to the Phat Fashions customer base as respected clientelle in the face of such a shake up, so let's let them listen to the silence of untouched clothes on a department store rack. Go here to find a number of ways to support Kimora, including information on how to purchase one of her six fragrances. No respect? No dollars. --Sugar

Why Kellwood Can't Get Away With This

This past weekend, I felt pretty awful. I really wanted to push forward and continue to get the word out about the boycott of all Baby Phat apparel, but I just didn't feel like I'd be able to give it my best. So, I abstained...only to decide that I needed to shuffle my Netflix cue this morning and in the process be brought to shame for my weakness. My American frailty.

I watch a lot of documentaries. They can be entertaining and informative and that's exactly what I need in my life with days that are sometimes jam-packed with to-do lists. So, as I was looking through my Netflix queue, I was pleasantly surprised to find a film by the name of Pray the Devil Back to Hell. I think that it had been there (in the queue) for a while, but I just kind of forgot about it. Today, I felt like something was pushing me towards it.

So, I decide to see what the film was all about and it was all that I could do to keep from weeping right there at my desk at work. This from the film's website:

Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about an agreement during the stalled peace talks.

A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting,and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Check out the trailer below:

Absolutely, we are not talking about bringing an end to civil war in this situation between Kimora Lee Simmons and Kellwood/Baby Phat, but again, it's relavent. It's extremely relavent to the other women in business and the fashion industry, in this country and in fact, the world.

Let me break something down for you. In that last post, I quoted some stats from the United Nations and Oxfam that claim that women do 2/3rds of the work worldwide and yet earn peanuts where salary is concerned and barely own anything where property is concerned. So, these Liberian women, of both of the predominate religions in that country, joined together to make a difference. They don't, for the most part, have access to all of the trappings that we have here in the States. But, they were tired of being made to feel as though their voices were irrelevant and ineffective in helping to bring about change in the midst of such turmoil--and guess what? Their decision to make a stand...worked!

Those women could have been slaughtered...hacked to pieces and fed to animals, but they didn't let that stop them from taking a stand against the injustice that sat before them. If they, our sisters among those who decided to go back to the "Mother land" way back when, could find the courage to stand up against bloodthirsty thugs and a known warlord, we can damn sure stand up against a bunch of cowardly, spineless, limp-dicked corporate thugs who wield nothing more than threats as a part of their arsenal.

A sister has been wronged here. I love her to death, but no matter your feelings towards her, which I can almost guarantee are based upon at least one fistful of lies and misinformation, she deserves just as much support as anyone else in this position. There aren't enough women of color in the fashion industry doing what she does for Kellwood to have disrespected her in this manner. And, unless we forget, they disrespected her and the entire Phat Fashions customer base, of all demographics, when they so nonchalantly discarded her as if we didn't matter.

I'm here to let them know that it did and it does and we are sick and tired of it. This post will make 11 so far for this blog, yet in its infancy, and yet both Kellwood and lawyers representing them, Morgan Lewis, have been crawling all over this space. Feast your eyes below on a few screen shots from the StatCounter (click on the image to enlarge):

What are they so concerned about if they haven't done anything wrong? Why are they crawling all over this blog? And, trust that the two listings for Morgan Lewis are but a cursory glance of their visits to the site. Those are just the two times that I decided to grab at this late hour. They weren't noticeably on the site today, but that doesn't mean they weren't there...

Anyway, what I'm getting at is this. The fashion industry, with its built-in barriers for women and men of color, has enough black eyes without this mishandling of Kimora Lee Simmons and her supporters, the customer base of Phat Fashions, to add to the list. We will not be shooed away this time as you snicker under your breaths, convinced that we will still buy these goods. It ends here. No respect? No dollars. And, I've got a lot more to discuss about this racism and sexism in this industry for the rest of this week. You should have handled this appropriately. How dare you send Kimora off as a mere after-thought and say nothing to us as if we are fools. We'll see who the fools are and I'm just getting started. Others are joining in on the effort. The blog isn't even a whole three weeks old and today I didn't tweet a single post and we got new and varied visitors...planting seeds and farming bitches. I'll expand this week. Holidays are upon us. Remember, red Christmas for you. --Sugar

Kimora's Struggle is That of Every Woman

Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the world's food, and yet earn only 10% of the world's income and own less than 1% of the world's property. (Source :End Poverty 2015 Millenium Campaign)

Oxfam tweeted that and other shocking bits of information about women and equality a few weeks ago and I have been unable to get it out of my head. Women work two thirds of the world's working hours, yet earn only 10 percent of the world's income. And, own less than 1 percent of the world's property. That's a serious gut punch. Let it marinate in your mind for a bit...what it means for alllll of the women in the world to do most of the damn work and yet earn a mere pittance of the income and own less than a pittance of the property. Not 2/3rds amongst poor women. Not 2/3rds amongst middle class women. Not 2/3rds of the hours amongst wealthy women. But, ALL of womankind does 2/3rds of the work globally. Not even Oprah could save us from this sorry statistical state that we're in.

So what? So what is that as this situation between Kimora Lee Simmons, Kellwood and Sun Capital plays out, I think it's important that women, especially, really consider what's happening here. If you haven't ever had to deal with a sexist pig at your job, trust me, just give it time and you'll get your chance. They are rude and disrespectful and the last thing they want to deal with is a woman with some power and an opinion. They can't stand it. The way that Kellwood handled parting ways with Kimora reeks with the stench of at least one such pig and it makes me sick.

I think that many women tell themselves, "Kimora's wealthy. She doesn't need me to care. She doesn't need my help. Our struggles are not the same." But, that couldn't be more wrong. Does wealth mean that a woman becomes void of all emotion, incapable of feeling disappointment? Hell no! I imagine that if anything, in moments of reflection, a woman of considerable wealth must shudder to think that even with all of that cash at her disposal, she still has to deal with such bullshit.

Imagine how you would feel had your local newspaper published an article that said you were dismissed from your job (in Kimora's case, a virtual empire that she built from the ground up), in part, because your supervisor thought you were too fat. You'd feel terrible and who wouldn't be able to understand!? Kimora is tough, and at least publically, she's handling this like a champ. Absolutely, we don't know how she's dealing with it away from all of the prying eyes, but as a woman I can imagine and I would hope that any other woman reading this can do the same.

My very best friend in this world was once in a very public position and things went South hard and fast when the pig she was working for crossed the line and then retaliated when she wasn't cool with it. I can remember sitting on the phone with her literally for hours some days as she shared her frustration, shock and disappointment. Her career was just taking off and the drama couldn't have come at a worse time. I will never forget spending hours helping her draft documentation for a mediation session dealing with that bullshit, and that was several years ago. Situations like that just sort of burn themselves into your memory bank and just sit there, ready to provide the needed juice to help another woman get through her own "situation". It's driving me now to help Kimora in this Kellwood situation in whatever small way that I can.

Do not let your intimidation of Kimora's financial status cause you to miss the fact that just like you, she's a woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter and a friend. Men support one another, and most definitely I would hope that they too are as upset about all of this as I certainly am, but we women have got to band together in situations like this. We will never be able to change statistics like those at the top of this post until we do. Support Kimora by visiting her website, KLS.com and find out how you can buy products that she owns without putting a red cent into Kellwood's pockets. No respect? No dollars. Kimora will be stronger than ever once all the dust settles from this mess. I can't wait. It will be a triumph that all women should be proud to witness. --Sugar

Kellwood, Burned By Sun Capital, Burns Kimora?

As I continue to research this Kellwood, Kimora Lee Simmons and Baby Phat situation, the plot gets thicker and thicker and I'm getting angrier and angrier. I stumbled upon this New York Times article earlier today, Sun Capital Gets Hostile With Kellwood. And, this one, For Sun Capital's Partners, Madoff Losses, Layoffs and Another Bankruptcy, and this one Kellwood Accepts Sun Capital's Takeover Offer, among many, many others about Sun Capital's aggressive attempts to acquire Kellwood Company in 2007 and 2008.

The two guys in the photo above are Marc Leder (left) and Rodger Krouse. They are the founders of Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Pretty young guys to be kicking up so much dust to get their hands on Kellwood. Their reputation preceeded them at Kellwood I'm sure, because they've left a trail of tears behind them in their apparent quest for world domination.

Just over a year after they snatched Kellwood, Josh Kosman wrote this in an article for Lexis Nexis about Sun Capital:

Sun Capital Partners, which just a couple of years ago was among the hottest private-equity groups in the country, has fallen upon hard times of late - a victim of the recession, bad management decisions and - according to critics - outright greed.

Right after they acquired Kellwood, Jason Bernzweig, vice president of Sun Capital said this in a Reuters article:

Jason Bernzweig, vice president of Sun Capital, said the firm is prepared to commit "substantial resources beyond the purchase price to build Kellwood's business" and plans to "work closely with management and employees at Kellwood to strengthen the company and develop its branded portfolio."

Well, we know that's a lie because they got their mitts on Kellwood in February 2008 and before the year was over, Kellwood was trying to give Holly Dunlap and her Hollywould, Inc., maker of handbags and shoes, the boot. Kellwood says that the plans were in place before the takeover by Sun Capital, but I don't believe that either. They did at least have the decency to offer a brief statement about the split, stating that both parties had:

"mutually agreed to explore a range of strategic alternatives for the business".

I'm so sure. What I'm not sure about is why Holly was given the courtesy of a statement when Kimora was not. I have never even heard of any Hollywould, Inc. No disrespect to Holly. Myself and millions of others do know who Kimora Lee Simmons is and she's sent away in the dark of night? The hell?

So, what's the deal? Is Sun Capital a fu*k up that bit off more Kellwood than it could chew, subsequently leading to the untimely dismissal of Kimora Lee Simmons and her staff from Baby Phat/Phat Fashions, or are they both (Kellwood and Sun Capital) fu*k ups who just didn't know what to do with a brand that started out with an urban and African-American slant, but which grew to become so much more, crossing all demographics? Whatever the case, they fu$ked up because I'm going to work hard to see to it that this is a red Christmas for both of them where Baby Phat is concerned. You didn't have the decency to let the customer base know that you've unceremoniously shown Kimora the door, continuing to try to make sales off of unsuspecting buyers. That has to and that will stop. No respect? No dollars. If you want to know how you can still support Kimora, visit her website, KLS.com. --Sugar