Haute 100 New York Update: Russell Simmons

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—Miami,New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. Busy mogul Russell Simmons recently partook in the Twinning Conference and launched a new Argyleculture clothing line.

Russell Simmons

Category: Entrepreneurs

Company: Rush Communications

Industry: Fashion, Music

What Made Him Haute: The founder of Rush Communications, which has a hand in music, fashion, art, media, telecom, philanthropy, jewelry and more, can be credited with starting the hip-hop movement through the founding of Def Jam Recordings. In May 2009, Simmons was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Permanent Memorial at the United Nations to Honor the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

What Makes Him Haute Now: Simmons and Jay Z recently partook in the Twinning Conference hosted by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. At the New York conference, which had more than 1,000 people in attendance, more than 100 synagogues and 100 mosques were represented in order to combat the increasing levels of racism faced by both Jews and Muslims in the community.

The hip-hop mogul’s Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is started a program this summer to help distinguish and develop aspiring artists focusing in urban photography and multimedia art. The artists in the program must submit their pieces online, and 20 of the best will be featured at Art Basel Miami Beach. One winning photographer will have their work honored in the Rush Arts Gallery and Resource Center in New York.

Simmons’ new reality show, “Running Russell Simmons,” recently aired on the Oxygen channel on Nov. 2. The show concerns all the women who help Simmons with his entrepreneurial lifestyle. Besides being busy with his show, Simmons is making another fashion statement with his new Argyleculture clothing line for men which is now available at Macy’s.

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