The lingerie of an era often whispers secrets about the women who wore it - how they moved, what they dared, and the confidence they passed down. This spring, Betsey Johnson, a name synonymous with the frothy, rebellious underthings and party dresses that defined the 1990s and early 2000s, is turning that whisper into a conversation between two generations. Kimora Lee Simmons and her daughter, Ming Lee, step into the frame for a Mother's Day campaign that treats style as a living heirloom.
Betsey Johnson, who launched her eponymous label in 1978 and became a fixture of Y2K fashion with her signature lace-trimmed corsets and playful push-up bras, has long understood that lingerie is as much about attitude as architecture. Here, the campaign's visual language balances that trademark whimsy with a more refined polish, suggesting that the confidence to wear a corset - or a power suit - is not simply taught, but inherited and reimagined.
Kimora, who built her own empire as a model and creative force during the same Y2K era, frames the collaboration with a sharp editorial eye. "Trends come and go. Power doesn't," she notes. "When people talk about Y2K, we have to remember the women who built something real." Her words echo a truth known to lingerie historians: the most enduring styles - like Betsey's iconic demi-cups or Kimora's own work at Baby Phat - are those that carry a woman's story forward. Ming Lee, stepping into that lineage, proves that the most powerful undergarment is a sense of self, reshaped for a new era.
Originally reported by WWD