For the uninitiated, here’s how Skims became the most revolutionary thing to happen to shapewear since Spanx:

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Kardashian co-founded Skims in 2019

She’s also an entrepreneur and founded Skims after seeing a hole in the shapewear market.

In a video from The Wall Street Journal Magazine, 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.

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With the help of Jens and Emma Grede

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

Launched in September 2019

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 US$2 million in sales from its launch but Skims has not confirmed that figure.

A social media maven herself, Kardashian, 42, has regularly starred in her own campaigns and posts tutorials on how to wear specific products such as body tape. As of the time of writing, Skims has more than five million followers on Instagram and 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

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Being stocked at Nordstrom

In 2020, 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 colours to reflect the company’s ethos.

Pandemic demand for loungewear

Skims leaned into pandemic demand for loungewear and gained a US$1 billion valuation. In December 2019, the company launched its first cosy collection, featuring loungewear such as robes, pyjamas 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.

First pop-up location in LA, 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.

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

Launched swimwear in 2022

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

Money keeps pouring in

Skims raised nearly US$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 start-ups.

Before launching, Skims raised a US$5 million seed round in 2019, then raised US$154 million in Series A funding in 2021 and a US$240 million Series B round in 2022.

Introduced activewear in 2023

In March 2023, the company expanded into activewear with its performance collection featuring leggings, tanks and bike shorts in its signature neutral tones. Prices started at US$118 for a pair of leggings and US$78 for a racerback tank top.

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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 dance company The Rockettes to perform their famous kick line.

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

IPO soon?

In July, the company announced a US$270 million funding round led by Wellington Management that valued the company at US$4 billion. Skims plans to launch menswear in the autumn 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.