Aoki Lee Simmons is the daughter of fashion executive and designer Kimora Lee Simmons and music executive Russell Simmons. She is a Harvard graduate who studied government and classics, earning her degree in May 2023, and she has worked as a model. The “Harvard-bound” framing in older coverage is out of date: she is no longer a student, and her enrollment is now a completed chapter of her life.
Who her parents are
Kimora Lee Simmons built the Baby Phat label, the streetwear brand that gave her a prominent place in New York fashion in the early 2000s. Russell Simmons co-founded Def Jam Recordings and Phat Farm and is widely known as a pioneer of hip-hop business. Aoki is the younger of the two daughters the couple shares with the older sister Ming, and the family’s public life, including fashion shows, has been part of her upbringing from an early age.
Her Harvard education, with the correct timeline
Teen Vogue’s September 12, 2023 profile reports that Aoki graduated from Harvard in May 2023 at age 20. She studied government, which is Harvard’s name for political science, and classics, a field she has described as covering ancient Greek mythology and political systems. The same profile says she finished high school at 16 after starting school early.
A later interview with Rollacoaster, published without a date visible in the copy reviewed, calls her a recent Harvard graduate and says she enrolled at 16 to study government and classics. In it she reflects on her own privilege. “I was able to go to Harvard when I had all the time in the world to study and focus and those conditions were perfect, but I wasn’t balancing a job, supporting others financially, worried about bills like so many other young people!” That is her personal perspective on her own circumstances, not a general finding about students.
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Her transition out of school also came up in that interview. “I think every recent college graduate is shocked by the change from a structure in school schedule to the adult world.”
Her modeling career, phase by phase
Aoki’s work in fashion has come in three distinct phases. Each has different sources and different dates, so it helps to keep them separate.
Rank #2
| Phase | Work described | Date or period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childhood | Appeared with Ming and their mother Kimora in Baby Phat show finales | Childhood; exact years not stated | Teen Vogue, September 12, 2023 |
| College era | Runway work for Tommy Hilfiger’s Factory show, Sergio Hudson and Pyer Moss, with trips to New York for jobs during her Harvard years | Tommy Hilfiger show: 2022. Sergio Hudson: New York Fashion Week, February 2023 | Teen Vogue, September 12, 2023; Us Weekly, April 8, 2024 |
| Post-graduation campaign work | Appeared in BCBG New York’s Spring 2024 collection visuals | Spring 2024 collection; campaign run dates not stated | Us Weekly, April 8, 2024 |
The sources give her professional credits through spring 2024. Published coverage does not describe her current projects, agents, or ongoing work, so any statement about what she is doing today would go beyond the record.
Fashion collaborations
In September 2021, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) reported that Aoki collaborated with JustFab on its Reboot Collection, which included heels, boots and flats. That was a discrete footwear project. The available reporting does not say whether those styles are still sold, so treat it as a past collaboration rather than an active product line.
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- Her current occupation or employer.
- Any modeling or fashion work after the spring 2024 campaign coverage.
- Whether she has any active brand partnerships or products.
- Any public statements about her plans after graduation beyond the interview remarks quoted above.
Readers looking for her latest work should check her own verified social media accounts and the agencies or brands she has worked with, since those are the places where current engagements would be announced.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Frequently confused points
Aoki is often mentioned alongside her mother’s and father’s business careers, but her own public story is about education and modeling. Her name appears in coverage of Baby Phat and Phat Farm for family reasons, not because she has run either company. Keeping the parents’ business history separate from her personal record avoids that confusion.
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