Lil Kim Opens Harlem Botique, Working On Clothing Line

Last night (October 4) in Harlem, Brooklyn emcee Lil Kim celebrated the grand opening of her very own La Scala boutique.

The Queen Bee’s event was supported by Lil B, Mims, Jim Jones, DJ Jazzy Joyce and Paul Mooney. The celebration was another business milestone for Lil Kim, following last Monday’s (September 27) grand opening of her second nail salon in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In addition, Lil Kim is working on a new clothing line entitled 24/7-Star. Unlike other rapper-inspired lines, Kim in aiming for high-end fashion in the vein of companies ran by her friends Marc Jacobs and Donatello Versace.

“I’m very excited. It’s being received well,” she told NBC New York. “My inspiration is definitely all of my designer friends like Marc Jacobs and Donatello Versace. Those are my friends. I watched them prepare for shows, and I see [what] they [went] through. I dedicate [my sneak peek] to them.”

Kim has been working on a new album since early 2009. That year, she released the single “Download” with T-Pain, which peaked at #21 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs list. This summer, she confirmed her signing to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. This focus now, she says, is nailing the down the perfect single to launch her first album since 2005’s The Naked Truth.

“I’m in the studio. I’m working all the time,”  Kim stated. “I never stop working. I’m focusing on dropping hot singles.”

View further images of Lil Kim below via her feature in Kontrol magazine’s September 2010 “Confessions” issue.