SKIMS Controversy
April 12, 2023
SKIMS, a brand started in 2019 by Kim Kardashian, originated as a shapewear line but has slowly moved into the athleisure category.
When Kim initially launched the brand it was named “Kimono” as a run-off of her name. This got an extreme reaction from the public and the name was said to be “tone deaf” meaning it is insensitive to certain people.
The name “Kimino” was culturally insensitive to Japanese culture and gave the brand a very poor start. As Kim saw this negative flashback from the name, she formally apologized and said that she will be changing the name brand.
She said “You would think we would have obviously thought it through a little bit deeper,” she said in July 2019. “I’m the first person to say, OK, of course, I can’t believe we didn’t think of this. I obviously had really innocent intentions. But, let’s listen. And I want to really listen. And I want to really take it all in. I do love Japan. My husband was in Japan when all of this was happening. It’s a place that we love and go to. I have such respect.”
She announced on June 25th 2019 that there would be a new launch on September 10th changing the name from “Kimono” to the current name brand of “SKIMS”. After the name was changed it became a well-made clothing line.
Kim started this brand with various styles and sizing and would make them the “perfect fit” she claimed. A controversy started when Kim’s sizes were clearly not sized correctly and were seemingly extremely small as this is what she sees as the “perfect body.”
This caused SKIMS to get a lot of negative attention and hate towards the brand. Kim then was caught photoshopping in a SKIMS brand ad. Her fingers were distorted and the people quickly noticed that the video was obviously photoshopped. The public spoke out about how this sets unhealthy body goals and makes SKIMS unlike by a lot of people.
The brand denies any photoshop or editing of the images but the public greatly disagrees. A lot of the public now sees the brand as “artificial” and “unrealistic” due to the photoshopping incident.
