Kelly Killoren Bensimon
Encyclopedia
Kelly Killoren Bensimon is an author, jewelry designer, former model, and former editor of Elle Accessories. She appeared on Bravo The Real Housewives of New York City
The Real Housewives of New York City
The Real Housewives of New York City is an American reality television program on the Bravo cable TV network, a spin-off of the Bravo series The Real Housewives of Orange County. New York is the second city featured in The Real Housewives of... franchise...

seasons 2-4.

Early life

Kelly Jean Killoren was born in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...

. She began working as a model at the age of 15.

Education

She attended Trinity College, Connecticut
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...

 as a member of the Class of 1990, but left after a year. She graduated in 1998 from Columbia University School of General Studies
Columbia University School of General Studies
The School of General Studies, commonly known as General Studies or simply GS, is one of the three official undergraduate colleges at Columbia University. It is a highly selective Ivy League undergraduate liberal arts college designed for non-traditional students and confers Bachelor of Art and...

 with a degree in Literature and Writing.

Career

Bensimon began her modeling career in New York City. She has appeared in magazines such as Elle
Elle
Elle may refer to:*Elle, Central African Republic*Elle , a fashion publication*Ellé, a river in France*Elle , a female given name*Elle , a Sri Lankan game similar to baseball*Ælle of Sussex, a Saxon king...

, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...

, and Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...

. She was once the face of Clarins
Clarins
Clarins is a French cosmetics company specializing in skincare products and fragrances.The family company was founded in 1954 by the medical student Jacques Courtin-Clarins, who died in 2007...

. She is the editor at large for Hamptons Magazine
Hamptons Magazine
Hamptons is a regional magazine that is published by Niche Media, LLC for more than 29 years and primarily targets the Hamptons's most affluent residents and visitors....

, a free weekly with circulation of 40,000 to 50,000 and Gotham Magazine.. 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. Kelly also wrote a column in Page Six Magazine called The Socializer: Kelly Killoren Bensimon. amNEWYORK, a local New York newspaper, which has a circulation of 1,000,000 readers a day, announced Bensimon's new column which will appear every Thursday in Keith Kelly's New York Post media column.

Bensimon has been host of the IMG
IMG (business)
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group is a global sports and media business headquartered in New York City.-History:...

 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);. Bensimon has hosted and modeled in menswear events with GQ magazine. She was also an "ambassador" for Spring 2007 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. 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.

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 of 09 at Milk Studios in New York City. There has been a lot of speculation about when the photos were taken, but a younger version of Kelly was heavier and had short blond bobbed cut hair.

On June 24, 2010, Bensimon announced the launch of her 4th jewelry collection, Kelly by Kelly Killoren Bensimon. The collection will mix metals, leather, feathers and crystals and will be sold at Intermix stores across the U.S to support FEEDING AMERICA.For Spring 2011, Bensimon's jewelry collection is sold at Wink, W hotels, and Dash.

Bensimon authored three books with 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 4th book "I Can Make You Hot " with St. Martin's Press is slated for 2012 release. A portion of the author's proceeds are being donated to GENEROSITYWATER.ORG/kellykillorenbensimon to build clean water wells all over the world.

In September 2011, 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.

Bensimon appears on www.Opensky.com, where she suggests fashion/accessories brands which she wears, at a discounted rate.

The Real Housewives of New York City

Bensimon appears in Season 2, 3 and 4 of Bravo's reality show, The Real Housewives of New York City
The Real Housewives of New York City
The Real Housewives of New York City is an American reality television program on the Bravo cable TV network, a spin-off of the Bravo series The Real Housewives of Orange County. New York is the second city featured in The Real Housewives of... franchise...

. She appeared in the Season 3 episode "Sun, Sand and Psychosis", which was filmed in St. John. The filmed 'altercation' between Frankel and Bensimon is the highest-rated episode in 'the history of 'Real Housewives of New York' history, coming in at 2.4 million viewers.

Family

Bensimon was the third wife of French fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon
Gilles Bensimon
Gilles Bensimon is a fashion photographer and the former International Creative Director of Elle magazine. He has also been the photographer on the reality television series America's Next Top Model....

. The couple have two daughters, and divorced in July 2007.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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