NikeSkims will be launched tomorrow. But why are we seeing so much of Kim Kardashian?

Regardless of what she sells, there’s one thing that is always very in-your-face about Kim Kardashian’s images: her overness. There is her over-drawn brows, the over-lashed lashes, the over-enhanced lips, the over-pushed-up breasts, and her signature, those over-emphasised hips. For the NikeSkims campaign, just released to announce the launch of the brand tomorrow, we see her overmuch self, again. Sure, Skims is her brand and there is probably a clause in the Nike contract that stipulates the need for her to appear in the ads. There are other women in the series, including pal Serena Williams, but it is she who takes the centre frame in familiar glory that seems to be a duplicate of herself for her own Skims campaigns.

In one close-crop photo of her, she wears two tight-fitted, cropped singlets, one over the other, as well as a pair of leggings. He hair is pulled back into a waist-length pony tail, caught mid-swing. She looks ready to hit the gym floor or whatever she does to keep her body in recognisable form these days. It is all her: the Kim of Skims. It took considerable effort to sport the Swoosh. Appearing just below the waist of the legging, it is smaller than her fingernail, and narrower than the Kim’s logotype. Nike’s most valuable and recognisable assets is reduced to a tiny tick, and camouflaged . But, she is in fertile, full-body shapeliness. She is the brand of Skims, and now she is the face and body of Nike. Even the goddess of athletic contest is no match.

It is hard to imagine the Swoosh as a footnote. This is, however, the preferred marketing spin about Ms Kardashian’s conspicuous participation: Her involvement in the campaign isn’t just a bonus—it’s an essential part of the deal. As one marketing consultant told us, “she is the real deal”, just as the collaboration is about “real performance” wear. As it is known and much reported, the Swoosh is in a slump. Nike may still be a dominant force, but it has been facing a number of challenges that make their partnership with Skims a crucial strategic move. The association with Kim Kardashian immediately imbues Nike with the important “cultural relevance”—it’s like being invited to the cool kids’ table in the school cafeteria.

Except that it is a far older kid inviting himself to the table. And the younger kid accepts him because she wants to appear more grown-up and more able to spread her influence, even when she is already a global name. A heritage brand using a younger, culturally relevant label to get a direct injection of ‘cool’ and immediate consumer shows that it recognises its limitations in a changing market. It is a move that prioritizes speed and cultural fit over a traditional, in-house development cycle. However, at that table, you can’t just buy a seat; you have to pass the younger kid’s vibe check. And having succeeded, Nike is aligning itself with a business model and a brand voice that it hasn’t been able to replicate on its own, even when it told itself to “Just Do It”.

This is not the first time that Skims is involved in a high-profile collaboration. Back in 2021, two Kims came together: Kim Jones—then with Fendi—and Kim Kardashian to produce the limited Fendi X Skims collection that apparently sold quickly. Back then, both designers were friends enamoured with fashion, so their coming together to create something “elevated”, as the line was described, was the classic two-heads-are-better-than-one arrangement, leveraging each other’s no doubt remarkable fame. It was, to borrow sneaker retail parlance, a hype drop. It was not, as we saw it, an unequal mutual exchange. In NikeSkims, however, there are different stakes for each company. but both are running a marathon than a sprint. It is, as the statement from NikeSkims puts it, not just a co-branded collection but a new, distinct business entity.

Is Skims going down market by partnering Nike? Not in the traditional sense, and not when Skims is “providing solutions for every body”. Perhaps it is more in line with current thinking to say that Skims, which has achieved multi-billion evaluation, is demonstrating its versatility and brand range. Unlike the high-fashion statement with Fendi, their pairing with Nike is more of a mainstream power play. Its goal is to create a new category in the activewear market, combining Nike’s performance innovation with Skims’s design and inclusive fit. In the end who will gain more is hard to tell. This is a savvy business move by the reality TV star. She has strategically used high-end collaborations to build luxury credibility while simultaneously using a mainstream partnership to secure a massive market opportunity. With Kim Kardashian, it appears there is virtually nothing you can skim off her.

Photos: NikeSkims