Tamla Claudette Robinson is a fashion entrepreneur and contributor to the preservation of her family’s musical history. The daughter of Smokey Robinson and Claudette Rogers Robinson, she founded the clothing business Born Star and helped bring her mother’s personal archives into a Motown Museum exhibition.
Her name connects her directly to the record label that helped establish her parents’ careers. Her own documented work, however, extends beyond that family connection: it includes designing children’s clothing, developing a business, and collaborating with museum professionals to present Claudette’s story.
Tamla Claudette Robinson at a Glance
| Detail | Supported information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Tamla Claudette Robinson |
| Also known as | Tamla Robinson |
| Birth year | 1971 |
| Parents | Smokey Robinson and Claudette Rogers Robinson |
| Siblings | Berry Robinson and paternal half-brother Trey Robinson |
| Daughter | Lyric |
| Business | Born Star clothing |
| Documented cultural work | Collaboration on the 2023 exhibition Claudette Robinson: A Motown Her-Story |
A Childhood Connected to Motown
Tamla was born in 1971, after her parents had already become established figures in American music. Her first name honors Tamla Records, the label associated with Motown’s beginnings.
Her mother, Claudette, was an original member of the Miracles Her father served as the group’s lead singer and became an influential songwriter and record executive. Their professional lives therefore formed the backdrop to Tamla’s early years.
The Miracles helped establish Motown’s commercial success with “Shop Around,” its first million-selling record. Claudette’s role in those beginnings earned her recognition as the First Lady of Motown.
By 1972, according to the Detroit Free Press, Smokey and Claudette had moved their family to Los Angeles. That places Tamla’s early childhood within the family’s transition from its Detroit roots to life in Southern California.
Tamla later described her upbringing on Born Star’s website as a creative environment that inspired her clothing lines. This is one of the clearest public statements connecting her childhood with her eventual professional interests.
Her exact birth date and birthplace are not reliably established in the sources reviewed. Her documented birth year means she turns 55 in 2026, but a precise age on a particular date requires a verified birthday. Details of her schooling and formal design training are also not publicly verified.
Her Parents, Brothers, and Changing Family
Tamla’s older brother, Berry Robinson, was born in 1968. She also has a younger paternal half-brother, Trey Robinson.
Her parents married in 1959 and divorced in 1986. Tamla was therefore a teenager when their marriage ended. Reliable accounts establish the family chronology, but they do not provide a basis for describing her personal reaction to the divorce.
Smokey’s departure from the Miracles in 1972 was another important change during her earliest years. The Detroit Historical Society notes that he wanted to devote more time to Claudette and pursue work outside the group.
Claudette’s career followed a different course. Although she stopped touring with the Miracles, she continued recording with them through 1972. That distinction matters to Tamla’s later archival work: her mother’s reduced visibility onstage did not mean she had immediately stopped contributing to the group’s recordings.
As an adult, Tamla has participated in public projects connected to both parents. Her fashion business documents a creative connection with her father, while her museum collaboration provides a detailed record of her work with her mother.
Building Born Star Beyond the Recording Studio
Tamla developed her own career through clothing design. On Born Star’s official store website, she describes creating designer clothing from the concept stage through to the finished product.
The business focuses on children’s and tween fashion. Its published descriptions identify clothing for boys and girls, with an emphasis on individual style and a range of fabrics and finishes.
Born Star’s history page dates the original business to 1999. It also states that Tamla revived the brand in 2022, establishing two distinct stages in its development rather than a single recent launch.
Her descriptions of the renewed line combine American sportswear with European fashion influences. A collection presented for spring 2023 included polo shirts, plain-front pants, straight skirts, and zip jackets.
The store also describes using coated denim, nylon, suede, and other materials. These details provide a more concrete picture of her work than the broad label “celebrity entrepreneur”: she has publicly discussed the garments, customers, and design choices behind the business.
Born Star’s website identifies Smokey alongside Tamla as a co-owner in an image caption. Nevertheless, the design statements appear in Tamla’s own voice and describe her responsibility for developing the clothing.
The brand’s public pages contain material referring to different seasons and years. They support its history and Tamla’s role, but they do not establish a newly launched 2026 collection or independently confirm current sales performance.
Preserving Claudette Robinson’s Story
Tamla’s most clearly documented cultural contribution came through the exhibition Claudette Robinson: A Motown Her-Story. The Motown Museum unveiled it on November 9, 2023.
The museum specifically credits her with working alongside associate curator Kemuel Benyehudah to select material from Claudette’s personal archives. Her involvement helped connect a family collection with a public account of the singer’s life.
The Detroit Free Press reported that Benyehudah worked with Tamla and Claudette for five months. Their source material included personal photographs and artifacts, allowing the exhibition to draw on records preserved within the family.
Among the displayed objects were records, vintage articles, wedding photographs, and the skirt-and-jacket outfit Claudette wore for the cover of the Miracles’ debut album, Hi … We’re the Miracles.
Those items gave visitors evidence of her experience as the woman in a predominantly male vocal group. They also placed her career within a broader life story, rather than treating her only as Smokey Robinson’s former wife.
At the unveiling, Claudette acknowledged Tamla’s work organizing the family archives and helping develop the exhibition. Tamla, in turn, described her mother as a strong and graceful role model, according to the museum’s account.
The collaboration is a specific, institutionally documented achievement in Tamla’s biography. It shows her contributing to how Motown history is researched and presented to the public.
Motherhood and Her Bond With Smokey Robinson
Tamla is the mother of a daughter named Lyric. People reported that Lyric graduated from the University of Southern California in 2019 and that Smokey attended the ceremony.
That milestone offers a documented glimpse of the relationship across three generations. Public information does not, however, establish Tamla’s marital history or identify a spouse reliably enough to include one here.
Her bond with her father also has a public context. In September 2017, Smokey announced Father Daughter Day, with its first observance scheduled for October 8 that year.
The announcement designated the second Sunday of October for future observances. It emphasized the importance of fathers setting healthy examples and supporting their daughters’ confidence and sense of value.
The initiative belongs to Smokey’s public work. It should not automatically be presented as a campaign founded or operated by Tamla, even though reporting about their relationship has discussed it alongside her story.
Financial Information and the Latest Documented Picture
No credible public estimate of Tamla Claudette Robinson’s net worth was established in the reviewed sources. Born Star documents a business interest, but its revenue, profits, and her personal earnings are not publicly verified.
Her parents’ recording income, royalties, and assets cannot be treated as her wealth. Likewise, the existence of an online store does not provide enough information to calculate the value of her business.
As of October 2026, the available material supports a professional history centered on fashion and family archives. Born Star’s public website continues to identify her as its founder, while the museum’s account preserves a clear record of her contribution to the 2023 exhibition.
Those records do not establish a new project for every subsequent year. The most useful account of her recent life therefore rests on identifiable work, with dates attached, rather than assumptions about ongoing activities.
Tamla’s archival contribution gives her biography a lasting point of substance. By helping organize photographs, clothing, and other surviving records, she helped make Claudette Robinson’s experience available to people beyond the family who preserved it.
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