Kim Kardashian West's shapewear brand Skims is going high end.
The reality star and beauty mogul is collaborating with Fendi on a new ready-to-wear line featuring apparel, swimwear, lingerie, shapewear and hosiery, all printed with a new custom Fendi x Skims logo.
Set to launch on November 9, the collection has been jointly designed by Kardashian West and British fashion designer Kim Jones, the artistic director for Fendi womenswear and creative director of Dior Homme.
“The innovation in fabrics and fit typical to Skims paired with the luxury and quality of Fendi may feel unexpected to some people, but the similarities between our creative vision and goals are so closely aligned,” Kardashian said. “It’s that tension that excites me.”
Sharing campaign photos from the collection, Fendi said: "Designed by Kim Jones and Kim Kardashian, whose underwear and shapewear brand has taken the fashion world by storm, the Fendi x Skims capsule collection unites the aesthetic codes of the respective brands to create a capsule wardrobe for the modern woman."
Launched in 2019, Skims focuses on shapewear and loungewear, and has proved popular thanks to its diverse skin tone range and atypical shapewear styles. In April, the brand was valued at $1.6 billion for a funding round led by venture firm Thrive Capital, its popularity driven by young shoppers and Kardashian West's huge social media following. It officially launched in the Middle East in December 2020.
Here's everything we know about the Fendi x Skims collection:
This is not Kardashian West's first rodeo with Fendi
In 2018, Kardashian West, along with her mother Kris Jenner and daughter North West, appeared in a campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Fendi's Peekaboo bag. The campaign was part of a series of photos and videos released by brand celebrating family.
"The idea was to expand the concept of family, as it's part of our history, and we wanted other families of women," Fendi told WWD fashion website. "In the case of the Kardashians, they are all three of them very strong women, with strong personalities. It's an iconic family, who is known for its appearance, but we wanted to bring more of an intimate side to the table."
How the Skims x Fendi collaboration began
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kardashian West said she sent designer Jones, an old friend, "a bunch" of Skims when she heard that the women in his office were fans of the brand. They then began discussing the possibility of working together in December last year and, in March, Kardashian met Jones in Mexico to finalise designs and for fittings.
“I really like to be a fit model ... I need to feel it,” she said in the interview. “I probably do so much more work than people assume, that might not even be necessary at this point. But I do it.”
Kardashian West consulted Ye before signing up
In the interview, Kardashian West said she takes estranged husband Ye's advice into consideration when working on Skims.
“He has a piece of Skims himself and gives [the team] inspiration but also information. I think he enjoys the process,” she said of the Yeezy founder, before saying, “Kanye will always be the most inspirational person to me.”
The collection will come a with luxury price tag
While Skims products range from Dh163 for a tank top to Dh296 for a bodysuit, the prices for the Fendi collection will cost Dh3,489 ($950) for dresses and tops, Dh4,040 ($1,100) for leggings and Dh10,835 ($2,950) for a puffer jacket. There will also be a sleeveless leather wrap dress that comes in eight shades priced at Dh15,426 ($4,200).
Jones and other stars
The latest collaboration comes as luxury labels seek to generate buzz in a crowded media landscape by signing on celebrities including rappers and K-Pop stars, with an eye to tapping into their broad fan bases.
Fendi has previously worked with rapper Nicki Minaj and artist Joshua Vides.
Jones is known for his flair for building brand heat in the luxury sphere through tie-ups with artists, popular culture figures and labels.
Jones brought on rapper Travis Scott to co-design the spring men's collection for Dior, for example, and teamed up with Donatella Versace on a "Fendace" collection that brought together Fendi and Versace designs.
Last year, he announced a collaboration with record breaking K-Pop group BTS.
The Italian labels closed Milan fashion week last month with styles that mixed Versace's Greek key motif with the Fendi monogram.
Scroll through the images below from the show:
The Fendi x Skims collection launches on Tuesday, November 9 and will be exclusively available on fendiskims.com and at Fendi stores and retailers globally.
– Additional reporting by Reuters
