After teasing the highly anticipated relaunch of classic 2000s streetwear brand Baby Phat, the nostalgia-inducing company is back with a modernized vengeance.
On Thursday (June 13), a comeback capsule collection was made available exclusively on Forever 21.
The 18-piece collection, which doubles as a taste of what the brand has in store with its original founder Kimora Lee Simmons Leissner at the helm, features the signature Baby Phat cat logo on leopard print graphic tees, as well as offers various pieces such as bodysuits, crop tops, biker shorts and more. Accessories for the collection include heart-shaped earrings, chokers and sunglasses, further showcasing how the brand has been modernized without losing its era-defining touches.
“This was a movement. People forget that. It’s incredibly rewarding work with Forever 21 to bring forward these new collections and this message now more than ever,” Simmons Leissner said in an official press release.
As previously reported, Simmons Leissner was able to buy back the popular brand earlier this year, after her ex-husband Russell Simmons sold the company in 2010.
“I did expect [Baby Phat’s sexy style to come back], actually — fashion is so cyclical,” Simmons Leissner shared with Page Six. “I love being a part of this life cycle from the O.G. Baby Phat to our new, reinvented, modern-take on the brand.”
She continued, “It’s so fulfilling to see one generation squealing with nostalgia at the news of our relaunch, and another discovering the brand for the first time. I’m heartened that the original aesthetic found its wait into the zeitgeist. That’s affirmation for me and a whole community of women who were underserved by fashion the first time around.”
In the promotional campaign surrounding the relaunch, Simmons Leissner recruited her now-teenaged daughters, Ming Lee Simmons and Aoki Lee Simmons, who were featured on Baby Phat runways when they were young children.
“My world is shaped in so many ways by my daughters. They grew up walking the Baby Phat runways with me, and now they’re grown and working with me on the design and creative direction of the collection and on building the business itself,” she added. “It’s important to me to share Baby Phat in a totally fresh and accessible way with an entirely new generation of women.”
Shop Baby Phat’s collaboration with Forever 21 here.