All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
As is par for the course with other Kardashian business ventures, the launch of Kim Kardashian West’s solutionwear line has been highly anticipated and comes with its share of controversy. But as of today, Skims has finally launched, is available for purchase, and it may just become the most successful Kardashian brand to date.
“I think all the other business I’ve had has led me up to that moment where I feel totally confident saying this is what we’re doing and...if you wear shapewear you will love this,” said Kardashian West earlier this summer at the preview for her “solutionwear”—not shapewear, but more on that later. The debut collection will not only feature underwear, bras, shorts, and bodysuits that its creator swears by and wears every day, it also includes pieces that are intended to be worn out as the main event, as well.
As Kardashian West said, Skims is unlike any brand that’s come before, both solutionwear- and Kardashian-wise. Below, everything we know—and what to expect from the actual product.
Skims is Kardashian West’s true passion.
“I feel like I’ve been designing shapewear for 15 years,” Kardashian West said of her new company, explaining the customization process she’d go through prior to creating her own line. “Every time I’d travel I’d bring sets of shapewear with scissors and a needle and a thread.” She explained how she’d alter pieces to fit under tricky silhouettes and dye shapewear with teabags to achieve a hue that matched her skin (a process she’s documented on social media).
“This is Kim’s true passion,” says Skims’s VP of Marketing, Julia Collier-Ungano. “She’s truly touched every single piece, wear tested everything. I’ve truly never seen anything like it.”
The brand got off to a rocky start.
Initially intending to launch the line earlier this summer, Kardashian West pushed back its debut in order to rename it. The original name, Kimono, was accused of cultural appropriation. (Daisaku Kadokawa, the mayor of Kyoto, personally wrote to the reality star and entrepreneur to express his concern over the use of a word and garment so significantly tied to Japanese culture.) Eventually, Kardashian West listened and changed course. “My fans and followers are a huge inspiration to me—I’m always listening to their feedback and opinions, and am so grateful they shared their ideas for a new brand name,” she shared on Instagram announcing Skims.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Skims is prioritizing inclusivity.
At launch, Skims’s sizing runs from XXS to 4XL (with some additional pieces available in 5XL). It’ll also offer nine different options for nude shades.
“Typically for shapewear brands, three colors is the standard offering. We have nine,” says Collier-Ungano. “The approach with skin-tone cover is that it might not match your skin tone perfectly. Everyone’s skin tone changes throughout the year but we want to make sure that women have options. Now moving forward, our approach to skin tone is we want to make sure that we are matching where we can, complementing always.”
“I hadn’t seen multiple shades of nude in warmer, deeper colors and I think that’s just so important,” Kardashian West says.
Collier-Ungano says the company will eventually release products in complementary colors such as bright pinks and grays. In addition, its commitment to inclusivity will also apply to pricing, with all products falling between $18 and $98.
Kardashian West has been wearing Skims in public for months—and no one noticed.
Not only does Skims’s creator say she wears the bodysuit under all her suits and the shorts “pretty much every single day,” she wore the Skims shorts to the Met Gala with her infamous Thierry Mugler, breathing-lessons-necessary dress.
“I wore it underneath the corset that I had, so because my dress was made of fabric that had these crystals hanging from it. Each one was hand done but it had the plastic sticking out so it hurt, it was itchy, and so I needed a barrier,” she says. “It just lifted perfectly and it was amazing.”
Testing has been extensive, including among other Kardashian-Jenner women.
Kardashian West has been wearing and testing products herself for more than half a year now, considering every detail of fit. For example, she says the shorts were engineered down to each stitch: “By the thigh, I was so careful. Sometimes it just cuts you off. I made sure [the hem] went out just a touch so it doesn’t cut you off. And everything is seamless.”
Additional, she shares that her sisters have not only all worn the products but have been shot for campaign images that have yet to be seen. “We all have our own business stuff going on, sometimes it’s hard to mingle it all together. I was just pleasantly surprised they all love the products so much, and all having different body types that they all were like ‘We’d love to do this,’” she says.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Don’t call it “shapewear.”
“Solutions are for everyone, shapewear is kind of an outdated term,” says Collier-Ungano about the distinguishing factor between Skims and other brands. “It says if you have a problem with your body you need it. We want women to feel like the most confident version of themselves.”
As the VP explains, this means offering support, coverage, and emphasis for women of all sizes, especially given Skims's three different levels of tension. “It’s just the idea of the solution and ways to make someone feel good when they’re getting dressed and also when they’re getting undressed.”
