Kimora Lee Simmons puts his parental support first.
During an interview with PEOPLEthe 47-year-old mother-of-five says it’s ‘absolutely absurd’ for people to criticize her daughter OKa 20-year-old Harvard student, for wanting to model when he had an Ivy League education.
“I love that she’s trying to follow in my footsteps. But I also think it’s painful because if I had some of what they have, maybe I wouldn’t have been a model. But I think it’s just looking at different sides of a coin,” she told the magazine at a Back to School Giveaway event, which she hosted. “As she goes, ‘Mom, you should be proud.’ It’s like an aspiration, that’s what people want to do too. And I just feel like sometimes you don’t want your kids to face difficulties. I think that’s what n Any mother would say, wouldn’t she?
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Simmons added: “If I did it and I know it’s hard and I know it’s kinda janky. Why would you want to do it? But we like an educated goofy queen. It’s an educated and clumsy queen.”
The fashion entrepreneur says his daughter is able to balance both school and her modeling career.
“We wish Aoki the best and she knows it. So whether it’s on camera or backstage, it doesn’t take anything away. And I think she probably saw that with her mom,” he said. she explains. “That doesn’t make you more or less a businessman or more or less a student or a student of the world or more or less than a model. It’s important to explore all of your passions.”
Aoki herself responded to criticism earlier this month about pursuing a modeling career while in college. On ICT Tacone fan commented on one of her videos, asking, “You’re so eloquent and obviously educated…how come you chose modeling?”
“Well, one, models aren’t uneducated and don’t speak up, but secondly, I think what you really mean is, ‘Why am I going into a field that doesn’t not necessarily require a degree or a lot of experience? deliver intelligence when I have a lot of education? ‘” Aoki replied, challenging the inference that someone can’t be both a college graduate and a model.
“Well, one, because I love it, and I think we should normalize liking something,” she continued. “You don’t have to do what you are immediately good at.”
Aoki made her runway debut last year while modeling for Pyer Moss Paris Couture and has posed for other lines and fashion houses.
