Kelly Killoren Bensimon

Kelly Killoren Bensimon (born May 1, 1968)^[1] is an American author, socialite and former editor of Elle Accessories and a former model. She has appeared on the Bravo television series The Real Housewives of New York City from seasons 2 to season 4.

Early life

Kelly Jean Killoren was born in Rockford, Illinois.^[1] She began working as a model while in her teens.^[1]

Education

She attended Trinity College, Connecticut as a member of the Class of 1990, but left after a year.^[2] She graduated in 1998 from Columbia University's School of General Studies with a degree in Literature and Writing. She is now completing an MBA with a focus on International Marketing at Northeastern University.^[2][3][4]

Career

Killoren began her modeling career in New York City. She has appeared in magazines such as Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar. She was once the face of Clarins. She is the editor at large for Hamptons Magazine,^[5] a free weekly with circulation of 40,000 to 50,000 and Gotham Magazine.^[6] Both publications are owned by Niche Media. She became the founding editor of Elle Accessories Magazine, and left after two issues. She authored several books including In The Spirit of the Hamptons, American Style, and The Bikini Book. American Style was edited on her Blackberry.^[7] Bensimon also wrote a column in Page Six Magazine called The Socializer: Kelly Killoren Bensimon.^[8] Killoren Bensimon is also a style columnist for the newspaper AM New York.^[9]

Killoren Bensimon has been host of the IMG fashion week, and of the IMG swim shows in Miami. She was a spokesperson in 2006 for Wool as part of their Test Marketing Productions (TMP);.^[10] Bensimon has hosted and modeled in menswear events with GQ magazine. She was also an "ambassador" for Spring 2007 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week^[11] in New York City. Killoren Bensimon's first line of jewelry was uniquely made with fishing lures and was sold exclusively at Barney's New York. Her second line of jewelry was sold at Bloomingdale's in fall 2007.

Killoren Bensimon appeared on the cover and in a six-page pictorial in the March 2010 edition of Playboy magazine, which was photographed by her ex-husband Gilles Bensimon in August 2009 at Milk Studios in New York City.

On June 24, 2010, Killoren Bensimon announced the launch of her fourth jewelry collection, Kelly by Kelly Killoren Bensimon. The collection mixed metals, leather, feathers and crystals and was sold at Intermix stores across the U.S. to support Feeding America.^[12] For spring 2011, Bensimon's jewelry collection was sold at Wink, W hotels, and Dash.

Killoren Bensimon wrote three books for Assouline Publishing: In the Spirit of the Hamptons, American Style, and The Bikini Book. A portion of the author's proceeds are donated to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bensimon's fourth book I Can Make You Hot, was published by St. Martin's Press in April 2012. A portion of the author's proceeds were being donated to Generositywater.org.

In September 2011, Killoren Bensimon was on the cover of Shape and was featured in a pictorial based on her exercise routine. She also opened the NASDAQ on September 1, 2011 to promote the cover. She was featured in a pictorial in the December 2011 issue of Avenue magazine and was guest editor for the January and February issues. Killoren Bensimon and her girls also appeared on the June 2012 cover of New York Family.

Killoren Bensimon appeared in three seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City.^[13]

Personal life

Killoren Bensimon was married to fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon until the couple divorced.^[1][14] They have two daughters, Sea Louise, born in 1998, and Thaddeus Ann, born in 2000.

References

External links

• Kelly Bensimon at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website