White and pink MC Lyte Baby Phat sneakers: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of pink and white Baby Phat brand sneakers with the name "Mc Lyte" printed in pink in front of the lacing. The toe is made of white leather with perforations with the vamp and the heel cap also of white leather. The words "baby phat" are embroidered in pink on the outside vamp. The Baby Phat cat logo is printed on the center back heel with the text "kimora lee simmons" below it. Bubblegum pink faux reptile skin is sewn around the toe cap and in a panel that borders the heel cap. The tongue is faced in white leather and lined in white nylon, with the Baby Phat logo printed in pink at the top of the tongue. The shoes lace with bubblegum pink nylon laces with clear plastic aglets. White rubber is attached around the bottom of the uppers, and the shoes have pink outer soles with the Baby Phat cat logo in white on the center bottom. The interior of the uppers are lined with white nylon. The insole is lined with a cheetah print fabric and a pink tag with white embroidered text reading "baby phat / kimora lee simmons" is sewn near the heel.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1998-2010
• Manufactured by: Baby Phat, American, founded 1999
• Designed by: Kimora Lee Simmons, American, born 1975
• Owned by: MC Lyte, American, born 1970
• Type: sneakers
• Medium: leather, rubber, plastic, and nylon shoelaces with plastic aglets
• Dimensions: H x W x D (left shoe (a)): 4 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 11 3/4 in. (11.4 × 9.5 × 29.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (right shoe (b)): 4 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 11 3/4 in. (11.4 × 9.5 × 29.8 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Fashion design
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2011.118.4ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of MC Lyte
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.