Kim Kardashian revealed during an interview with Time 100 that she used to dye her lingerie and clothes in order to match her skin tone.
In an interview with the 2024 Times 100 Summit, when Kim Kardashian was asked about how the idea of Skims came to life, she revealed that due to the lack of inclusive clothes and shapewear, she had to dye her lingerie in order to match the shade of her skin.
Skims’ back story
Kim Kardashian West is a businesswoman, a socialite, and a media personality. She has developed an immense presence in the social world due to her personality and her different businesses, one of which is Skims.
Skims was founded in June 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, a Swedish entrepreneur. Later on, Kim’s husband Kanye West was given the position of “Ghost Creative Director”, as the world-famous Skims’ unique logo was designed by him.
The idea of Skims, as revealed by Kim Kardashian at the 2024 Time 100 summit, was generated due to the gap that the absence of inclusive products created. Since Kim clearly loves wearing shapewear, she wanted this dream company to fill that gap.
She further elaborates that there were either super-light nude shades available or black, with nothing in between, which made her insecure and under confident in her own skin. This used to make her feel inferior to others. That is precisely why Skims has a wide range of nude shade collections which are available in various sizes.
Tea bags are versatile
Kim continued by sharing how she dealt with the lack of products on the market. She explained to the host, Poppy Harlow, how she used to dye her shapewear in tea bags and coffee to get that exact shade to match her own. She used to put them in the bathtub or sink and let the coffee sink into her underwear.
It was not only her but her friends as well who suffered from this collective no-shade-match issue. She further describes that she also figured out her own proportion of these materials (tea bags and coffee) for her exact shade to match. She now finds it funny as to what length she went to just for the shapewear to match her skin tone.
It was only then that she knew what business she might be interested in. The main motive behind Skims apparel is to fit all body sizes and match almost every skin color. She wanted to decrease this gap of a lack of inclusive shapewear and lingerie.
Inclusivity matters
Kim Kardashian also exclaims that when she found the proportion mantra for her exact skin shade, the size didn’t fit. But this didn’t stop her from wearing shapewear and experimenting with it. She loved wearing them, and as smart as Kim is considered to be, she always knew what to do next.
Kim used to cut her shapewear short because they were too long for her. After a while, she knew the exact amount of fabric she needed to omit in order to get what her ideal shapewear should look like.
Kim describes her love for wearing shapewear, as she mentions that she was obsessed with them and had been designing shapewear before her inclusiveness for all companies came into play. It has been over 15 years that Kim has been altering clothes and designing shapewear.
Fits all, suits all
Kim Kardashian’s ever-inclusive company, Skims, definitely lives up to its logo, ‘We are setting new standards by providing solutions for everybody’. Kim always felt the void and just wanted to create something that could fill it.
Skims are known to have a wide range of sizes, from XXS to 5XL. The company not only makes size-inclusive products but is notably known for accommodating different shades for different skin tones.
Skims is a perfect example of what a ‘dream come true’ looks like.
