Kim Kardashian’s $4bn SKIMS empire no better than TEMU, says bombshell new report

Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS has become a globally loved high-end shapeware brand, but a damning report has revealed the company has a dark side.

Remake, a global advocacy group, gave the $4 billion clothing giant a zero score in its 2024 accountability report, which assesses brand transparency, employee wages and well-being, environmental impact and sustainability goals.

Zero company SKIMS ranks last, next to fast fashion giant Temu, which is accused of forced labor and selling products deemed unsafe for human health.

The report condemned Kardashian’s company for its carbon emissions, use of materials harmful to health and the environment and unfair working conditions at a supply factory in Southeast Asia.

Even before the assessment was released in March, Kardashian was busy with the company came under fire for unethical working conditions at a factory in Myanmar.

Bogart Lingerie (Yangon) Limited – a Myanmar clothing supplier that SKIMS worked with until at least April 2022 – was accused of inhumane work rates (including unpaid overtime), wage theft and gender-based harassment and violence.

The supplier has denied these allegations and the SKIMS website claims that ‘all our warehouse and factory workers are assured of fair wages, safe environments and healthy working conditions.’

It is unclear whether Kardashian still works with this supplier or others in Myanmar, as the company has never published a complete list of its suppliers.

According to the Remake report, SKIMS essentially does not provide any transparency regarding the traceability of their supply chain.

But the company has previously stated that their products were sourced from Thailand, China and Turkey, and manufactured in Thailand and China.

In 2022, SKIMS was accused of greenwashing after the company falsely labeled its packaging as plastic-free, compostable and made from plants.

‘I AM NOT PLASTIC’ is written in bold letters on every package.

‘I am compostable made from plants. I will biodegrade in your home compost and in an industrial compost facility.”

In reality, the packaging is made of type 4 plastic, or low-density polyethylene (LDPE), which is recyclable but not biodegradable.

SKIMS is one of fifteen companies assessed in the Remake report that have not committed to setting science-based emissions reduction targets.

Within this group, SKIMS is also one of ten companies that have not released information about their CO2 emissions, or set targets to reduce emissions.

The report further shows that SKIMS clothing is mainly made from materials that directly contribute to environmental pollution, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Kardashian herself has been sued by members of her gardening and maintenance crew, who are not associated with the SKIMS brand but are her employees.

The employees claimed that the star never paid on time, did not allow meal breaks and fired someone on the spot for asking about overtime pay.

Remake’s assessment also found a major lack of transparency around supply chain traceability, employee wages and welfare, environmental impact and sustainability targets.

“They’re not disclosing anything,” said Alexa Roccanova, senior advocacy manager at Remake and co-author of the report. Source diary.

“They have a few statements saying they produce with suppliers who share their ethical obligations, things like that, but nothing they say is backed up by data. Not to mention that everything they produce relies heavily on fossil fuel-based materials,” she said.

According to the report, SKIMS products are mainly made from conventional cotton and rayon (a synthetic fabric made from wood pulp).

Conventional cotton farming is associated with extensive use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals that pollute rivers, lakes, wetlands and underground aquifers. This practice also significantly affects the soil and causes erosion.

Rayon is touted as an eco-friendly material because it comes from a renewable resource: trees. But harvesting wood contributes to deforestation, and producing the pulp requires large amounts of acidic and toxic chemicals that pollute air and water.

SKIMS production also relies heavily on oil-derived materials such as polyester and spandex, the production of which emits enormous amounts of greenhouse gases.

According to the most recent data available, polyester production for textiles produced roughly 1.5 trillion pounds of greenhouse gases in 2015 – the equivalent of the annual emissions from 185 coal-fired power plants.

The only information SKIMS has published about their commitment to sustainability can be found in a statement on their website.

‘At SKIMS we are committed to the highest ethical standards and legal compliance in all aspects of our business and product supply chain. We only work with vendors and suppliers we believe in and who share our commitment to sustainability, responsibility and transparency,” the statement said.

SKIMS did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

Remake’s annual reports explore key questions about the ethics of the world’s leading fashion brands, including whether they set and achieve carbon emissions targets, pay their employees fairly and promote diversity within the company.

As with any company it evaluates, Remake asked SKIMS to release information about the company’s operations prior to the assessment to ensure the assessment would be as fair as possible.

Of a total of 52 companies assessed, SKIMS was among 28 that refused to share this information.

This forced Remake to rely on the company’s publicly available information about their operations to calculate their score.

“Scores depend on public disclosures and reflect a company’s level of transparency,” the report said.

Remake scored companies on a scale of zero to 150.

A score of zero indicates the least possible level of transparency, goal setting, and progress toward those goals, while a score of 150 indicates the ideal level of transparency and action.

The highest scoring company was Everlane, an American clothing retailer, which achieved a score of 40.

This is still far from the highest possible score. The report shows that Everlane and other companies at the top of the list have demonstrated that they prioritize ethical and sustainable business practices.

But they “still have a lot of room for improvement,” the report says.

This control does not seem to deter SKIMS opening permanent stores in the US and internationally, and expanding the men’s clothing line.

But there’s a chance the company’s murky social and environmental status could impact their ability to appeal to more ethically minded consumers, Roccanova told Sourcing Journal.

‘I’m not convinced that the SKIMS customer is concerned about climate change, but other potential customers are. So I think if they want to continue to be leaders in this area, they’re going to have to adapt,” she said.