How did Skims grow to become worth more than Victoria’s Secret and Under Armour combined? A good portion of Skims devotees look past Kim Kardashian, the reality-TV megastar and face of the brand, for an answer.

Instead, those customers say it’s the product itself that has them on board. Given the label’s success, it’s hard to write it off as just another tentacle of a SoCal celebrity-machine. Skims has established itself as a more inclusive and modern alternative to rivals in the shapewear and underwear markets, those customers say.

The clothing brand that Kardashian co-founded in 2019 is worth $5 billion after a recent capital raise of $225 million. It was valued at $4 billion in 2023, after its last funding round. Skims said it expects to hit $1 billion in sales in 2025. The company reached about $750 million in sales in 2023, and $500 million in 2022. 

Skims shoppers cite the vast range of sizes and skin tones, plus the brand’s signature slippery-soft fabrics and fashionably minimalist vibe, as the things that distinguish it from other options.

Rebecca Nocentino  said she considers the Kardashian connection “vaguely cringe.” Still, after two years of social media bombardment, she tried the brand.

“I wear a size large to extra-large and I find it hard to find things that flatter me and are also comfortable and sexy,” said Nocentino, 27, who lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and works at an accounting firm. “I just sent my boyfriend a post of Skims pyjamas with the two-eyes emoji. That’s what I want for Christmas.” The Soft Lounge Sleep Set costs $128. A matching robe is available for $108.

Ruby Dachis, 22, became a Skims convert while dealing with stomach issues at Oberlin College in Ohio. Her therapist suggested she try wearing a bodysuit. Dachis found one from Skims for $72. “Something about the soft fabric and insanely tight weave gave my stomach muscles a break, and I could forget about my discomfort,” she said.

The gateway to Skims was pregnancy for Christiana Ting, a 36-year-old tech worker and mother of two in Brooklyn, New York. “I don’t identify with Kim Kardashian’s style or brand or her persona — I’m a younger millennial Brooklyn mom in Docs and barrel jeans, definitely not Calabasas-coded,” she said.

But when Ting was pregnant and needed a belly band, “everything out there felt dowdy or orthopedic.” She ordered a Skims bodysuit online and was surprised by the quality of the fabric. “It feels like wearing industrial-strength hose,” she said. “It’s super supportive, but also unbelievably soft.”

A Skims representative declined to comment.

Originally launched as a shapewear line, the brand now includes elevated yet affordable basics like T-shirts, cotton dresses and cashmere sweaters. While brand-label cotton T-shirts can cost about $100, most Skims tees are priced under $50. The cotton rib legging costs $56, around half the price of the many leggings offered by Lululemon.

Skims has also come to be known for its viral product “drops” — its savvy execution involves down-to-the-second countdowns and emails with all-caps subject lines. A “Coming Soon” page on the Skims website teases releases and allows customers to add their names to waitlists.

“I love the waitlist model,” said Beatrice Hazlehurst, 32, a Los Angeles podcaster who hosts Uncover Girl, a show about pop culture and the celebrity machine. “The thing about Skims is the product is so good, it eclipses the celebrity name. The only other brand I can think of that does that is Rhode by Hailey Bieber.”

Courting attention, like releasing underwear adorned with synthetic hair, is the Skims’ stock in trade. But the bulk of the brand’s offerings are decidedly minimalist, available in mostly solid and sober colours.

“I think the people on the Skims branding team are geniuses,” said Elena Mehlman, 29, who subscribes to the company emails and swears by a shapewear piece with a bandeau top that she wore underneath a spaghetti-strap dress for a friend’s wedding. “The structural integrity was A-plus. I danced all night, and I was jumping up and down.”

Skims fabrics include nylon and spandex blends, cotton and cotton blends, as well as modal, a semi-synthetic fabric made of beech tree pulp. Skims co-founder and CEO Jens Grede told Vogue Business about the company’s commitment to a deeply tactile experience, comparing it to the “first-sip experience” at Starbucks.

Not all Skims materials are universally adored. When the company launched its buzzy Nipple Bra in 2023, climate activists called out the brand for running a campaign with a climate theme while manufacturing a bra with synthetic materials.

Other controversies have touched the brand. Skims was originally launched as “Kimono,” in 2019, causing backlash over cultural insensitivity, which led to an emergency name change. (The mayor of Kyoto put out a statement addressing Kardashian’s faux pas.)

Skims is now focusing on expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint, as well as the development of its beauty arm. While Grede once hinted that the company was eyeing a stock offering, his more recent statements indicate that there are no immediate plans to go public. The current priority is using the new cash infusion to scale.

Shawn Grain Carter, a professor of fashion business management at the Fashion Institute of Technology, said the company’s rapid growth springs from a foundation of trust.

“Kardashian came out with a brand that listened to the needs of women, and offered sizes and colours that most consumers couldn’t find anywhere else,” Grain Carter said.

She said the brand’s biggest challenge will be cultivating that same sense of loyalty with the next generation of consumers. “The millennials are on board, but Gen Z and Gen Alpha are a little more fickle in terms of their thought patterns,” she said. “They want authenticity and sustainability, and they’re not going to buy stuff just because you’re an influencer.”