The Lady Miss Kier Kirby of Deee-Lite was born on August 15 in Youngstown, Ohio. Her family moved frequently, bringing her to places such as Boston, MA; Cleveland, OH; Sewickley, PA and finally Pittsburgh, PA by the time she was four. Her parents were divorced when she was seven. Her father remarried and now lives with his family in Texas. At four years old, she enjoyed making mudpies with colored fish gravel sprinkled on top. At five years old, her favorite color was black. At six, she and her sisters often performed the musical "Hair", for their parents and friends. At seven, her classmates discovered what her two older sisters already knew - that she had a big mouth and was the instigator of many after-school fights. Around this time, Kier's mom, who was back in school finishing her college education, took Kier and her sisters to several peace marches and demonstrations. Kier was very moved when her mother brought her to a peace demonstration where the crowd shouted "Vote, baby, vote!". At eight, she drew flowers, ants and smiling caterpillars. When she was nine, Kier designed her brownie outfit so that it would include brown bell-bottom pants. The troop rewarded her by kicking her out.
Throughout her childhood Kier loved music; especially groups such as The Stylistics, The Doors, Rufus, Sly and the Family Stone, Peggy Lee and Michael Jackson. Her mother took her to her first concert at age ten to see Labelle and their hit song, "Lady Marmalade". When Kier was twelve, her mom remarried and the family moved to Virginia Beach, VA where Kier completed high school and continued her artwork. At eighteen, she spent the summer working in Washington DC, and living with her relocated family. While in DC, she studied on her own at The Textile Design Museum, saved some money for college and prepared her portfolio. That fall, Kier took the big step, and moved to New York City. She began studies at The Fashion Institute of Technology to prepare for a career in textile design. After a short time at F.I.T, she became disenchanted with her teachers and eventually dropped out. Kier supported herself as a waitress, a bartender, a coat checker, a bathroom attendant, a go-go dancer, and an art gallery receptionist; continuing to study and work at designing on her own.
In 1982, her friend Daphne introduced her to Dmitry in Washington Square Park. At that time, Kier was hand silk-screening her designs on fabric. This eventually led to two fashion shows and many wild costumes. She prepared a performance art window piece for the nightclub "Area" and received First Prize for her work. She also began reading and writing poetry. She kept several notebooks, which she filled with her writing and designs. She made Dmitry silver platform boots and a glitter blue spacesuit for his band, Shazork, as well as a line of platform shoes in 1986.That same year, she began experimenting with singing and writing music with Dmitry, he and the Lady Miss Kier wrote several songs together. Their first song was called "Love and Bubbles", the second was "I Won't Give Up" and soon formed Deee-Lite. She used the notebooks full of poetry as the basis for Deee-Lite's lyrics. The first show they gave was in 1987, and they met Towa shortly after. Deee-Lite had performances every month, with Kier designing new costumes for each one. She continued go-go dancing for club promoter Suzanne Barstche's Bentleys and The Copa until they signed the seven-album deal with Elektra.
