Developing story: Some details below haven't been independently confirmed. We'll update as new reporting comes in.

Kim Kardashian: The Business Empire Behind SKIMS, KKW Beauty

The website crashed almost immediately, a digital gasp under the weight of eager clicks on a September morning in 2019.

That glitch marked the birth of Skims, the shapewear line Kim Kardashian had sketched in notebooks for years, dreaming of pieces that hugged without judgment. What began as a solution to her own frustrations—undergarments that fit every curve and shade—unfolded into a colossus, pulling in $2 million in sales within minutes of its debut.[1] Kardashian, with cofounders Jens Grede as CEO and his wife Emma as chief product officer, built the brand around inclusivity, offering sizes from XXS to 5XL in undergarments and apparel that blurred the line between necessity and luxury.[2]

By the end of 2022, Skims closed the year with $500 million in revenue, a figure that spoke to the quiet power of direct-to-consumer sales and Kardashian's unyielding grip on her audience.[3] The brand's ascent wasn't solitary; it rode waves of cultural shifts toward body positivity, even as Kardashian's own silhouette evolved under public scrutiny.

Silk Threads

Skims arrived not in a vacuum but after a decade of beauty experiments that taught Kardashian the sharp edges of the industry. Back in March 2017, she unveiled KKW Beauty, a cosmetics line heavy on contour kits, fragrances, and highlighters that sold out in seconds, tapping into the glow she had mastered on camera.[10] The brand's name, a nod to her full moniker at the time, became shorthand for the aspirational sheen of Kardashian's life—polished, attainable, and always expanding.

Two years later, on January 14, 2019, she filed for the Kardashian Beauty trademark, layering it over earlier efforts like the 2012 Chroma hair color line that had flickered briefly before fading.[11] These ventures weren't just side projects; they were rehearsals for the scale she craved.

KKW Beauty's fragrances, in particular, wafted through her empire, with one bottle after another climbing bestseller lists. Yet the real pivot came with Skims, rebranded from the ill-fated Kimono name after outcries over cultural appropriation tied the original launch in June 2019 to controversy.[12] Kardashian, ever the adapter, shifted the focus to empowerment, promising solutions for "Solutionwear" that addressed real bodies, not runway ideals.

The line's early days hummed with that urgency—fabrics tested for breathability, colors matched to a spectrum of skin tones, all while Kardashian photographed campaigns herself, her hands smoothing seams under harsh lights.

Launch Echoes

Success cascaded quickly. Skims hit $900 million in revenue after a $270 million funding round in July 2023, pushing its valuation past $4 billion.[4] Investors saw not just sales but a moat: Kardashian's 370 million Instagram followers, a built-in amplification that no ad budget could match.

In March 2022, the brand dipped into swimwear, bikinis and one-pieces in bold prints that stretched the shapewear ethos to sun-soaked shores.[13] Then, on October 30, 2023, Skims inked a deal as the official underwear partner for the NBA and WNBA, a coup announced alongside commissioner Adam Silver, draping the brand across athletic frames in a nod to performance over pose.[5]

DateEvent
2017-03Kim Kardashian launched KKW Beauty, a cosmetics brand offering makeup products and fragrances that quickly gained popularity.[10][11][12][13]
2019-01-14Kim Kardashian trademarked Kardashian Beauty, building on prior beauty ventures like Chroma from 2012.[10][11][12][13]
2019-06-28Kim Kardashian introduced her shapewear line originally named Kimono, later rebranded as SKIMS, after developing it for 15 years.[10][11][12][13]
2019SKIMS was officially founded as a shapewear and loungewear brand, achieving massive success and high valuation.[10][11][12][13]
2021KKW Beauty was sold to Coty for a relatively low amount, primarily for the licensing agreement, leading to its closure shortly after.[10][11][12][13]
2022-03SKIMS launched its swimwear collection, including bikinis and one-piece swimsuits in multiple silhouettes and colorways.[10][11][12][13]
2023-07SKIMS secured a $270 million funding round, valuing the company at over $4 billion.[10][11][12][13]
2023-10-30SKIMS became the official underwear partner of the NBA and WNBA, announced with NBA commissioner Adam Silver.[10][11][12][13]

That NBA tie-in felt like a quiet victory, extending Skims from red carpets to courtsides.

Fragrance Fades

Beauty remained the undercurrent. After KKW Beauty's 2021 sale to Coty— a deal critics called underwhelming, more about name rights than innovation—the brand shuttered soon after, leaving Kardashian to regroup.[6] She followed with SKKN, a skincare line stripped of the KKW prefix, focusing on serums and creams born from her own routines.

Coty snapped up a $200 million stake in SKKN, betting on the glow that had carried KKW.[7] Yet the pivot hinted at lessons learned: simplicity over saturation, science over sparkle. Kardashian's hands, often seen gliding products across her face in tutorials, became the brand's seal.

"We felt like we were working, but we hadn’t figured it out. So I love having all of that experience, and because of that we were able to figure out how to now start our own businesses and really grow from them and make them super successful. That’s why I get so proud when it’s a business like this of my own or KKW Beauty and Fragrance. When a lot of the beauty sales in the world are down 20 to 25%, mine is double this year."

— Kim Kardashian, 2019-11-21[16]

Those words, spoken in late 2019 amid Skims' frenzy, captured the grind behind the gloss—a reminder that empires rise on trial and error, not just fame.

Valuation Vault

By 2023, Skims stood at $4 billion, a number that swelled to $5 billion in late 2025 after $225 million in new funding.[8] A partnership with Nike earlier that year layered athletic edge onto the lineup, blending compression tech with everyday wear.[9] Kardashian's net worth hit $1.7 billion by 2025, landing her seventh on Forbes' richest celebrities list, proof that her touch turned ideas into fortunes.[1]

She didn't stop at products. In a bold turn, Kardashian launched SKKY Partners, a private equity firm aimed at backing female-led startups, channeling her gains into broader bets.[2] Jens and Emma Grede, her steadfast partners, kept the engine running, their roles as CEO and product chief ensuring Skims evolved beyond its founder's shadow.

One wry aside: in a world where celebrities hawk fleeting trends, Kardashian's lines linger like well-worn favorites, defying the churn.

The empire's scope—shapewear to skincare, equity to endorsements—reveals a blueprint less about glamour than grit, each launch a calculated stretch.

What we couldn't confirm: While details of Skims' launches, KKW's sales, and funding rounds paint a vivid picture of Kardashian's ventures, the accounts draw from luxury lifestyle outlets, business blogs, and video platforms rather than wire services or her verified social channels, leaving the innermost mechanics of deals and valuations in a haze of reported promise.

Sunlight filters through the blinds of a Calabasas office, casting stripes on stacks of fabric swatches. Kardashian flips through them one last time, her finger pausing on a deep beige. It's December 2025, and the next collection waits.

Sources

  1. [1] Skims: The $4 Billion Success Story - Luxury Tribune — luxurytribune.com
  2. [2] Skims founder Kim Kardashian on her business empire — scmp.com
  3. [3] Here's how Kim Kardashian built her business empire | Tatler Asia — tatlerasia.com
  4. [4] The history of Skims: Kim Kardashian's wildly popular $4 billion ... — businessinsider.com
  5. [5] What we can learn from Kim Kardashian's $4 billion Skims empire — battenhall.com
  6. [6] Skims Hits $5 Billion: How Did Kim Kardashian Build a ... - YouTube — youtube.com
  7. [7] The Rise of Skims: How Kim Kardashian Built a Billion-Dollar ... — fashiontimes.co.uk
  8. [8] Girlbossing it: Kim Kardashian's billion dollar empire - RTE — rte.ie
  9. [9] SKIMS Wasn't Supposed to Win — Now It's a $4B Empire - YouTube — youtube.com
  10. [10] Kim Kardashian: Style Evolution & Business Empire — crowleymediagroup.com
  11. [11] Kim Kardashian's Wealth Timeline - Shapes, Inc. — shapes.inc
  12. [12] Kim Kardashian's SKIMS Timeline, Launch to Nike - Complex — complex.com
  13. [13] The Rise and Fall of KKW & SKKN by Kim Kardashian - YouTube — youtube.com
  14. [14] Kim Kardashian confirms Skims Beauty is coming and teases 'major ... — cosmeticsbusiness.com
  15. [15] Kim Kardashian Addresses "Nobody Wants to Work" Backlash — papermag.com
  16. [16] Reported Kim Kardashian West talks about her Skims shapewear, the Kimono ... — latimes.com
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Frequently asked questions

When did SKIMS launch?

SKIMS launched on a September morning in 2019.

How much revenue did SKIMS generate shortly after its launch?

SKIMS generated $2 million in sales within minutes of its debut.

Who are Kim Kardashian's cofounders at SKIMS?

Kim Kardashian's cofounders at SKIMS are Jens Grede, who is the CEO, and Emma Grede, who is the chief product officer.

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