“The last one ruined my mental health until now,” Aoki Lee Simmons stated as she boycotted all and any Fashion Week after constantly receiving “interpersonal cruelty.”
In 2013, Aoki’s mother, Kimora Lee Simmons, shared her fears about her daughter becoming a model soon after the 21-year-old launched her modeling career. Although the future looked promising with Aoki landing her and her first global campaign (the Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2023 collection) and being the youngest Black woman in the history of Harvard to graduate with a dual degree, Kimora was worried that her daughter might experience the same hardships that she encountered in her early years.
Unfortunately, this may have come to pass as the young model has taken to social media to share disturbing secrets about the model and fashion industry.
“I hate to say it,” Aoki began. “Hope I don’t sound ridiculous, but I will not be going back to any kind of fashion week unless I’m mentally prepared for it. And feel loved and supported.”
“The last one ruined my mental health until now.
According to her, the industry is plagued with starvation and open cruelty, which influenced her to make a “bad decision.”
She continued, “And I know lots. In fact, most models, including my own mama, go through so much more. But it’s not for me. I’m a personal person. I take things personally. I’m honest and open, and I take things hard when I feel I was kind and received cruelty (I don’t just mean not booking a job because that’s life). But interpersonal cruelty. It was dark af.”
“And then, from this very dark, virtually starving place, I made a bad decision after being coerced for years, and the entire internet (24 million hits if I recall correctly) dragged me through the mud for it. I was doing my best.”
Aoki Lee Simmons also shared her decision to take both her mental and physical health seriously.
She showed a fully stocked fridge and wrote, “But the fridge is fully stocked. Health is fully prioritized, and no one is going to make me feel like I need to starve to be loved ever again.”
