{"id":155521,"date":"2023-06-21T08:30:53","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T12:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/?p=155521"},"modified":"2023-06-21T10:18:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T14:18:42","slug":"fresh-off-the-graduation-stage-aoki-lee-simmons-is-ready-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/fresh-off-the-graduation-stage-aoki-lee-simmons-is-ready-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh Off The Graduation Stage, Aoki Lee Simmons Is Ready To Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.centerimg {padding:4em 7em;margin:20px 0;}\n.centerimg2 {padding:4em 4em;margin:20px 0;}\n.centerimg3 {padding:4em 3em;margin:20px 0;}\n.sidetxt {padding:16em 2em 16em 2em;;margin:20px 0;}\n.centerimg img {margin-bottom:0px;}\n.instagram-media {margin:auto !important;}\n#wp-content hr {margin: 40px auto 80px auto;width: 80%;}\n<\/style>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/ROMAN-YEE-Test-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1596\" height=\"2000\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-155574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/ROMAN-YEE-Test-2.jpg 1596w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/ROMAN-YEE-Test-2-511x640.jpg 511w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/ROMAN-YEE-Test-2-1021x1280.jpg 1021w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/ROMAN-YEE-Test-2-1226x1536.jpg 1226w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1596px) 100vw, 1596px\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Photographer &#8211; <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/roman-yee\">Roman Yee<\/a> | Courtesy of <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/Nomad-Management\">Nomad Management (New York)<\/a><\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p>Most interviews don\u2019t start with frantic shouting in reaction to seeing a spider in the bedroom and <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/kimora-lee-simmons\">Kimora Lee Simmons<\/a> hopping on the phone just to say hello, but for 20-year old <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/models\/aoki-lee-simmons\">Aoki Lee Simmons<\/a> this is merely the surrounding reality as she answered the phone midday for Models.com contributor, <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/models\/greg-emmanuel\">Greg Emmanuel<\/a>. After graduating from Harvard University in May, the young scholar recently returned to her homebase in California to bask in celebration and be with family. While managing an accelerated curriculum to finish school early over the last couple of years, Aoki also officially launched her modeling career at the <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/pyer-moss-pyer-moss-couture-fall-2021-show\/1549884\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pyer Moss Haute Couture show in 2021<\/a>. Since then, she was cast for several runway shows at NYFW and became a modern day muse for Tommy Hilfiger. Models.com checks in with Aoki Lee Simmons to reflect on balancing an Ivy League school education, flying in and out of Boston for modeling, and what\u2019s next for the energetic, prospective supermodel. <\/p>\n<p><center>Interview &#8211; <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/models\/greg-emmanuel\">Greg Emmanuel<\/a> | Editor &#8211; <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/irene-ojo-felix\">Irene Ojo-Felix<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>So you\u2019ve just graduated from Harvard with a degree in classics and secondary in political science, why did you choose that major and how do you plan to use it after graduating?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019ve been passionate about history my whole life. When I was like 11 or 12, I went to the Getty Villa in LA, which is one of the only exclusive museums for classical art in the world, and I figured out when it comes to museums I prefer this kind of museum and history like the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians. Someone told me that\u2019s called the classics, you can just study that and I was like phenomenal let\u2019s do that. When we get past the middle ages like medieval times, it gets too modern for me and I check out, so I wanted to stay in ancient history. Political science, which is like government, is the biggest major at Harvard and I honestly had a mini panic attack when I got there because I was like what am I going to do with Latin and Greek? I also really love politics, news, reading and I might go to law school one day, so I added that on to feel like I was going to get a real job out of it [laughs].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Balancing classes and exams at Harvard, while flying in and out of Boston for your modeling career must have been challenging. What is something that grounded you in those tough moments? <\/strong><br \/>\nSo much and I did not do it alone. My agent, my manager, it was a lot, we were going through it. They were keeping track of my professors and which classes I couldn\u2019t have any more absences in and just trying to figure things out. Honestly, I didn\u2019t need to ground too much because I was so busy. I would do homework all the time, I was always studying, I would bring my Latin everywhere and I was just always thinking about when is my next exam and my next job. Now that I\u2019ve graduated, I had a dream about an exam and I woke up like this is so chaotic. I\u2019m working on more grounding now and getting back to my yoga. I actually like to hang upside down in the morning to get my day started \u2013 I know it\u2019s crazy \u2013 I\u2019m getting my apartment in New York and trying to rig up aerial silks this very minute so I can hang upside down.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I can imagine your mother being an inspiration being who she is, but aside from that, why did you want to get into modeling? And what\u2019s your goal with modeling?<\/strong><br \/>\nSo I actually did not, that\u2019s the crazy part, but let me give the full picture. When I was very young, I absolutely loved it and the evidence is there because in every picture of early Baby Phat shows I&#8217;m twirling or trying to do a cartwheel or something crazy. I\u2019m a triple Leo, so I absolutely loved it. When I got a little older and got on social media, I feel like most people aren\u2019t on the internet in middle school reading people\u2019s opinions, but I happened to be on a show and there were a couple extra opinions. I don\u2019t think most people are having their self-esteem dictated by how they looked when they were 12 to a couple hundred thousand people, so I definitely got out of it [modeling] and really got into school. As a child, my mom always told me my only job is school. I got back to modeling my freshman year at Harvard. I had just turned 17, I was scouted by someone who had just graduated from Harvard and had started working at an agency. She emailed me through the Harvard email network and she was like, \u201cHi, I notice you work at the Harvard museum. What if you just came to New York and you can make that amount like one time and not have to work every day?\u201d So I was like sure, you\u2019re a fellow student and you know how the Harvard museum is so like why not. <\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t do much my first year, it was COVID and nothing happened. Then I did the Pyer Moss show and that was really exciting. I remember they had COVID distance casting processes and everything I would get that summer and fall, I would think, \u201cOh it\u2019s going to be a fluke, they\u2019re going to realize it\u2019s a terrible idea and then I\u2019m just going to be a professor, so let me not to get to excited because it will be over in a minute.\u201d Then I started getting more jobs and started enjoying it. This sounds so crazy because I\u2019m 20, but I had a little mid-life crisis and started thinking why am I this young in school? I could have waited and now it\u2019s COVID. So I reflected on what I have been enjoying recently and it had been my time on set, my time at shows, my time creating and trying on new things. I realized it was fun and figured out that it\u2019s something I look forward to.<\/p>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/Tommy-Hilfiger-Classics-Reborn-Spring-2023.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1499\" height=\"2000\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-155576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/Tommy-Hilfiger-Classics-Reborn-Spring-2023.jpg 1499w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/Tommy-Hilfiger-Classics-Reborn-Spring-2023-480x640.jpg 480w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/Tommy-Hilfiger-Classics-Reborn-Spring-2023-959x1280.jpg 959w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/Tommy-Hilfiger-Classics-Reborn-Spring-2023-1151x1536.jpg 1151w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1499px) 100vw, 1499px\" \/><br \/>\n<small><a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/Greg-Harris\">Gregory Harris<\/a> for <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/client\/tommy-hilfiger\">Tommy Hilfiger<\/a> | Courtesy of <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/Nomad-Management\">Nomad Management (New York)<\/a><\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>What is the most valuable modeling tip you\u2019ve learned from your mom? <\/strong><br \/>\nHer modeling tips are so funny because they come from like a perfect goddess. She\u2019s like \u201cjust be yourself\u201d and I\u2019m like thanks mom I would be myself if I was yourself too. [laughs]. One of the good ones was to keep a thought in your brain when you\u2019re walking because my first adult show I was trying to be fierce, but my mind was empty so my eyes were empty and you could tell. There was a great show she did with Carla Bruni and they were standing at a table and having a fake lunch and she was like even if the show is like no stopping, no turns, super straight, you still carry out the energy of \u201cI\u2019m a woman, I\u2019m having a great time\u201d and that\u2019s how you do runway and sell clothes. Be happy, have a good time and look like you\u2019re having a good time because if you look too serious, you will look very somber.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s been one of your most cherished modeling moments so far?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy whole Tommy Hilfiger journey so far. I\u2019ve known Tommy for a long time, but I was never modeling for him. When I ran into him at the Dior show, I think he was shocked to see that I turned out tall. He was like, \u201cOh and this is one of the children, oh you\u2019re so tall.\u201d And I was like yes, I grew up and I model now, sidenote [laughs]. When I got the show, I was worried I would ruin it because it was raining, but then as I\u2019m going out and I\u2019m so nervous, two people said kind things to me: Ashley Graham was backstage and she was very nice to me and my dresser said as her and her friends were watching rehearsal, I was one of their favorite top 3 walks and it gave me so much confidence to go out there and have a nice time. Then I did <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/tommy-hilfiger-tommy-hilfiger-spring-2023-campaign\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a spring campaign<\/a> and when I got that, I thought I was actually dreaming. I was literally in the school bathroom texting my agent like are we sure? So I was very excited. And then finally we celebrated the Tommy x Shawn Mendes collection in London. There was a dinner for it and I sat next to Tommy and I was a little late because my shoe had broken and there was all this chaos, but when I got there and sat down, he turned to me and said, \u201cWhere were you? I wanted to talk to you.\u201d He gave me the best pep talk I have ever heard in my life. Basically saying that he thinks I\u2019m going to do great things, he\u2019s proud of me and that I\u2019m going to be a big star in modeling. And I went home to write it all down in my diary. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been an amazing journey with that team and Tommy himself. It means the most to me when he tells me that someone from the team tells him that I was so professional and did so well at the shoot, that means a lot to me. I\u2019ve just been excited to build a professional rapport with so many great people and artists and I\u2019ve been enjoying all those return moments when it\u2019s like we\u2019ve worked together before and we both did our part and we all got along and it was so great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Last time we chatted, we got to do a fun interview with your mom and we touched on how you and Ming [Lee Simmons] are very involved in the new age of Baby Phat. What\u2019s been some of the latest things you\u2019ve been working on for the brand and what has your involvement with Baby Phat teaching you about business?<\/strong><br \/>\nI will say Ming, who has been living in New York, is probably the better one to ask. We\u2019ve been looking at a lot of old styles and I\u2019ve just been combing through old runway and I\u2019m like can we do this? And my mom is not the type to be like \u201cOk! Sure! make some units.\u201d You have to explain why you think it\u2019s a good idea, you have to bring some market analysis, you have to show some trend forecasts, she just doesn\u2019t give out free business handouts. This is her life\u2019s work and she\u2019s generous with it by showing us how she did it, but she\u2019s also protective of it. If we want to try a bunch of crazy ideas, it\u2019s like ok, you start your own brand if you want to dictate everything. She\u2019s very tough-love educational, so we are learning a lot about what it takes to get clothes out there, manufacturing, factories, partnerships like it doesn\u2019t just come out of thin air. I feel a lot more ready every day if I wanted to start a brand or make something, I would know a little more about what goes into the everyday. So, definitely the process of the business side of fashion and what goes into a great design and a great product.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you have a dream campaign or runway show?<\/strong><br \/>\nWe did touch on Tommy, but like the Aaliyah x Tommy homage campaign was so emotional, I think my mom cried. A dream campaign, oh my gosh honestly there are so many, but I would say anything my mom has done. I would love to get back to her Paris roots like what she started out doing. I don\u2019t have a specific dream campaign, as there are so many. I just love fashion, I love couture, I enjoyed Pyer Moss and the couture process. I would love to work in Paris and Milan more, but I also want to find my own brand, so whatever comes. I\u2019m just excited to see where we go from here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Great answer! Give her all of the campaigns! What are some items that you keep on you at all times when on set and going to castings?<\/strong><br \/>\nA lot of things. Everyone knows you\u2019ve got to bring the shoes. Essential oils, I\u2019m a real anxious individual, so a little lavender can do a lot for you, a little tea tree or eucalyptus gives you a nice reset. Headphones, like music and podcasts help my ADHD brain be calm. I need to have some other information processing going on to free up my brain to focus on something else other than sitting still in a chair like that\u2019s hard for me, so I have to occupy my brain. Music is a huge part of me getting ready for a show or a shoot, getting me in the right mindset. A breakthrough moment I really enjoyed was before the Kim Shui show, I was playing Beethoven and that really calmed me down, so that\u2019s like my new thing: extreme, classical, very slow because I move so fast in life, so being encouraged to slow down. Also, a lot of snacks because a hangry model is not cute and my large metal water bottle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve been able to grace a few major runways and star in campaigns. How do you approach runway vs photoshoots, is the mindset different?<\/strong><br \/>\nI feel like I haven\u2019t had enough experience to call it an approach yet because it changes every time. I guess have a good time, gratitude and approach with joy that you\u2019re here and just be excited to take it all in. I love to talk as you can probably tell, so talking to people and learning people\u2019s stories and just having an extroverted vibe and hoping that it will snowball into good things. So, just being excited and grateful that you\u2019re there and it will all fall into place after that if you have good intentions and good energy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"centerimg\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/SERGIO-HUDSON-FW2023-AOKI-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-155575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/SERGIO-HUDSON-FW2023-AOKI-2.jpg 1333w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/SERGIO-HUDSON-FW2023-AOKI-2-427x640.jpg 427w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/SERGIO-HUDSON-FW2023-AOKI-2-853x1280.jpg 853w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2023\/06\/SERGIO-HUDSON-FW2023-AOKI-2-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" \/><br \/>\n<small><a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/sergio-hudson-sergio-hudson-ss-23-show\/1882574\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sergio Hudson S\/S 23 Show<\/a> | Courtesy of <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/Nomad-Management\">Nomad Management (New York)<\/a><\/small>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Ok, hypothetical situation: You\u2019re on option for a major worldwide campaign and then you get released. How do you mentally handle this part of the business?<\/strong><br \/>\nSo it\u2019s not hypothetical because it\u2019s happened multiple times. Once, I was on a treadmill when I got dropped for a show the day of and it just turned into a really aggressive run. I guess there\u2019s what I would try to do, like I aspire to lean on meditation, yoga, gratitude, look at the world around you and realize that you&#8217;re still so blessed and all of those calm, good things. I probably would cry because I\u2019m a crier, but then I would go back to the meditation and calm stuff. I would say my one tip that my mom gave me a whole life is a physical gratitude list. If you\u2019re feeling low and sad, bust out a notebook and start listing what comes to mind. It does great things for your mental state. I think it\u2019s also clinically proven like there is some science to it. <\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the first thing you want to do after graduating? Are you ready to go straight to work modeling full time or do you have vacation on your mind?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m ready to go to work, I\u2019m going back to New York in a week. Yesterday, I was following Ming around the house and she was like what are you doing? I just don\u2019t really know what to do with myself, I\u2019m a bit young, thank God I\u2019m healthy, so work is on my mind for sure. I\u2019m ready to just start my life in New York and come home here and there. And that was also the whole point of graduating early, it was to get out there and get started and when I feel the need for rest, I will take it, but I don\u2019t feel it at the moment so I\u2019m excited to get started and hang my aerial silks from the apartment ceiling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m so glad you found an apartment where you can do that in New York, the hunt is not easy. Final question, some models are known for their walk, some for their cheekbones or their smize, what would you like to be known for to set you apart?<\/strong><br \/>\nObviously, I would like to have all those things down., I definitely probably want it to be my hair. I\u2019m really proud of my hair and the journey with my hair. Growing up, my mom was so encouraging of telling me my curls were beautiful and then I went through that phase of asking, \u201cCan I straighten it? All of my friends in school have a silk press and I want one,\u201d but she would tell me my hair is gorgeous, don\u2019t damage it. Middle school and high school, I was all about the bun, the ponytail, and how to make the curls smaller, like more towards the beauty standard of whatever straight hair is. Now I\u2019m like, bigger and better like a giant chia pet, so I love my hair. I\u2019m on this whole journey of only natural products, soft pillow cases, I don\u2019t use hair ties anymore and I\u2019m finally getting a professional trim, because I\u2019ve heard if you want to grow it, you have to get serious about professional trims. At Sergio Hudson\u2019s last show, everyone had hair pieces or a blowout and they curled it, but he was like, \u201cWe really love your natural hair, do you want to wear it on the runway?\u201d I was like yes, oh my gosh I get to have my hair on the runway, and I really appreciated that. I think he could tell I had an emotional connection to my hair and that means the world to me.<br \/>\n<!--pp-thumb-start--><!--PictPress found no dir \/2023\/06\/155521--><!--pp-thumb-end--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photographer &#8211; Roman Yee | Courtesy of Nomad Management (New York) Most interviews don\u2019t start with frantic shouting in reaction to seeing a spider in the bedroom and Kimora Lee Simmons hopping on the phone just to say hello, but for 20-year old Aoki Lee Simmons this is merely the surrounding reality as she answered&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":155574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10414,16,13940],"tags":[13969,13952,10448],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155521"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155558,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155521\/revisions\/155558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}