The history of Skims: Kim Kardashian's wildly popular $4 billion shapewear line (2024)

Kim Kardashian cofounded Skims as a direct-to-consumer shapewear brand in 2019.

The media personality and socialite Kim Kardashian is best known for the reality-TV show "Keeping Up with The Kardashians," which aired on E! until 2021. She is the daughter of Kris Jenner and Rob Kardashian, the attorney who defended OJ Simpson during his murder trial.

She's also an entrepreneur — she founded Skims after seeing a hole in the shapewear market.

In a Wall Street Journal Magazine video, Kim Kardashian explained that she couldn't always find shapewear that matched her own skin tone, so she started Skims to provide women with options for different body types, skin tones, and ages.

"I really wanted to launch my own shapewear that took all of the designs that I was cutting up myself, that I was dying myself," she said.

Source: Wall Street Journal Magazine

Originally, the brand was going to be called Kimono. But when people complained that the name disrespected Japanese culture, Kardashian renamed it to Skims.

Source: Insider

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Behind many Kardashian brands is the power couple Jens and Emma Grede, who have developed multiple celebrity companies.

The Swedish entrepreneur Jens Grede cofounded the denim brand Frame in 2012, which became a multimillion-dollar company. He then cofounded Skims with Kim Kardashian and is the company's CEO. His wife, Emma, is also a founding partner and the chief product officer.

Together, the Gredes formed a holding company — aptly named Popular Culture — and have been at the helm of several celebrity brands, including Khloe Kardashian's denim brand Good American, Kris Jenner's cleaning-products brand Safely, and Tom Brady's apparel brand Brady.

Source: Forbes, Glossy.co

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Skims launched in September 2019 with shapewear and underwear in sizes from XXS to 5XL.

In September 2019, the company launched its first "fits everybody" collection to offer shapewear and underwear for a variety of body types. The initial products sold out within minutes, and TMZ reported the company earned an estimated $2 million in sales from its launch. Skims has not confirmed that figure.

Source: Hypebeast, TMZ, The New York Times

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Skims found success by focusing on body positivity and using influencers to promote its products.

Skims quickly gained popularity for its inclusivity and messages promoting body positivity. The brand has found success with a marketing strategy that regularly features top influencers and celebrities from SZA to former Victoria's Secret models.

A social-media maven herself, Kim Kardashian has regularly starred in her own campaigns and posts tutorials on social media about how to wear specific products such as body tape. As of the time of writing, Skims has more than 5 million followers on Instagram and 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

Source: Fashionista, Yahoo, Insider

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In 2020, Nordstrom was the first retailer to stock Skims products.

Kardashian celebrated Skim's first retail partnership with a fashion show in a New York City Nordstrom store, featuring models of a wide range of sizes, heights, ages, and skin colors to reflect the company's ethos.

Insider: Insider, Retail Dive

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Skims leaned into pandemic demand for loungewear and gained a $1 billion valuation.

In December 2019, the company launched its first cozy collection, featuring loungewear such as robes, pajamas, and two-piece sets made from soft materials. By the time the pandemic began and shoppers weren't so much in need of shapewear, the brand had launched a second collection of loungewear.

Source: Insider, Insider

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Skims opened its first pop-up location in Los Angeles, followed by one in Paris.

In 2021, Skims opened its first pop-up location at The Grove mall in Los Angeles. Later that year, the brand held a pop-up shop inside the Paris department store Galeries Lafayette Haussmann. It featured beige-pink walls and displays that were curved and soft, "reminiscent of body forms and the curves of a body," the designer Willo Perron told Dezeen.

Source: Instagram, Dezeen

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Skims was the official underwear provider for Team USA at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Source: The New York Times

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In 2022, Skims launched swimwear.

In March 2022, Skims launched a swimwear line with bathing suits in 19 styles and seven colorways. Each piece came in sizes from XXS to 4X and was priced between $32 and $108.

Source: EOnline, Best Products

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Skims raised nearly $400 million in venture-capital funding from 2019 to 2022.

Stumbles by Victoria's Secret created a hole in the lingerie market, and venture capital poured into underwear startups. Before launching, Skims raised a $5 million seed round in 2019, then raised $154 million in Series A funding in 2021, and a $240 million Series B round in 2022.

Source: Crunchbase

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In January, Skims introduced activewear with leggings, tanks, and bike shorts in its signature neutral tones.

In March 2023, the company expanded into activewear with its performance collection. Prices started at $118 for a pair of leggings and $78 for a racerback tank top.

Source: Page Six

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The campaign for this year's Valentine's collection featured actors from the popular HBO show 'The White Lotus.'

Source: Insider

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In May, Skims opened a pop-up store in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center featuring a giant diving-board water fountain.

Willo Perron of Perron-Roettinger, the same designer who's responsible for previous Skims pop-ups, designed the powder-blue retail space. To announce the opening, Skims commissioned the Rockettes to perform their famous kick line.

Skims also opened its first pop-up location in the UK in July.

Source: Time Out, Dezeen, Business of Fashion

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Skims is now worth $4 billion after a $270 million funding round.

In July, the company announced a $270 million funding round led by Wellington Management that valued the company at $4 billion. Skims plans to launch menswear in the fall and open flagship-store locations next year in Los Angeles and New York.

An IPO could be on the horizon, Jens Grede told The New York Times.

Source: The New York Times, Axios