Kim Kardashian founded SKIMS because she could never find nude shapewear that matched her skin tone
Kim Kardashian Says She Made SKIMS — Now Worth $1 Billion — Because She Could NOT Find Nude Shapewear That Matched Her Olive Skin Tone
Kim Kardashian had a long road to her SKIMS success.
Turns out she started thinking about shapewear in her teens.
The siren told Time magazine that she always bought corrective clothes and dyed them with coffee or tea to match her skin tone, because the colors that were there didn’t resemble her olive color.
The next step was to make shapewear for all women and that’s how SKIMS was born.
Time launched one of their Most Influential Business covers with Kim for SKIMS on Tuesday. The issue hits newsstands on Friday.
Biz babe: Kim Kardashian had a long road to her SKIMS fame. Turns out she started thinking about shapewear in her teens
Crafty: The Siren told Time magazine that she bought shapewear and dyed it with coffee or tea to match her skin tone because the colors out there didn’t match her olive; here is Kim in her SKIMS/Fendi collaboration
Kim admitted that when fame first knocked on her door almost 20 years ago, she wasn’t sure what to do.
“In the beginning, when I didn’t really understand where my career was going, because I was just sort of into it, I was doing licensing deals with a lot of different companies that contradicted themselves, like a cupcake brand with a weight-loss pill at the same time,” she said.
Skims, which first offered underwear and shapewear, but expanded into loungewear, swimwear, t-shirts and dresses, has changed that – and the way the business world sees it.
And she was overjoyed when SKIMS worked: “I feel like, okay, I did it.”
SKIMS by the numbers: Founded in late 2019, Skims says it made $500 million last year, 25% more than expected and 80% more than in 2021, which was 90% more than the year before.
So far, 2023 has been a bad year for underwear sales, but good for Skims; CEO Jens Grede, who co-founded the company with his wife Emma and Kardashian, says sales of his intimates were up 86% year-over-year in April.
In its latest round of funding in January 2022, the privately held brand was valued at $3.2 billion, double what it had valued just nine months earlier.
Covergirl: The next step was to make shapewear for all women and that’s how SKIMS was born
She also makes swimwear! Time launched one of their Most Influential Business covers with Kim for SKIMS on Tuesday. The issue hits newsstands on Friday
Co-Founder Jens Grede on Kim: Grede says Kardashian is one of the best creatives he’s worked with. “To be a successful creative director today, you have to have a world view,” said Grede.
“You have to have a very clear aesthetic that is recognizable to you, and you have to be able to understand popular culture well.” When he first showed Kardashian the packaging for Skims, she replied that it didn’t look like anything you’d find at her house. It went back to the drawing board.
It was Kardashian’s idea to have Snoop Dogg and his grandchildren do the Christmas campaign and use the two actresses who played con artists in White Lotus for another. “She knows how to orchestrate popular culture,” says Grede.