Nike bets big on reality TV star Kim Kardashian

NEW YORK – More than 40 years ago, National Basketball Association (NBA) icon Michael Jordan helped Nike become the top name in basketball sneakers.

Today, the sports apparel company is betting that American reality TV star Kim Kardashian can help it do the same for women’s activewear.

On Feb 18, Nike announced the creation of NikeSkims, a new brand in partnership with Skims, the shapewear Goliath co-founded by Kardashian. NikeSkims marks the first time that Nike has joined with an existing, outside company to introduce a new brand.

“It’s this great clash of performance product – athlete-tested, athlete-inspired – with Skims’ incredible attention to the female form of the body and inclusivity,” said Ms Heidi O’Neill, president of consumer, product and brand at Nike.

The brand, she said, will “serve women so they can feel strong and sexy”.

The two companies have been working on NikeSkims since October 2023. Skims, which has conquered the shapewear market with its curve-accentuating leggings, bodysuits and tops, first reached out to Nike about working together.

The initial crop of products will hit Skims and Nike websites and select stores in the United States in the first half of 2025. NikeSkims will roll out globally in 2026.

If Skims’ shapewear is designed for everyday wear, NikeSkims will be targeted towards hour-long HIIT (high-intensity interval training) classes and sweaty treadmill sessions.

It will utilise existing training-tested textiles, like Dri-Fit, as well as “innovations that are built more uniquely for Skims”, according to Ms O’Neill. She did not share specifics on pricing, but a pair of Nike’s high-waist Dri-Fit leggings sells for US$60 (S$80), just a smidgen more than Skims’ US$56 cotton leggings.

NikeSkims will focus on women’s apparel, with plans to add footwear and accessories in the future. Mr Jens Grede, chief executive and co-founder of Skims, said it was not out of the question for it to expand into menswear.

NikeSkims, similar to Air Jordan, will have its own dedicated staff.

NikeSkims arrives at a moment of soaring interest in women’s sports, like basketball. Skims is already the official underwear partner of the Women’s National Basketball Association, as well as the NBA and USA Basketball, the governing body for the sport in the US.

Women’s sports, Ms O’Neill said, are not a trend but “a transformation”. The company, she noted, saw double-digit growth in its women’s sports business over the past two years.

In working with Skims, Nike also gets instant access to one of the most visible women on the planet.

Kardashian, 44, has more than 357 million Instagram followers and gamely stars in many of Skims’ promotional clips. In a video uploaded to Skims’ Instagram account last week, Kardashian, dressed in a tonal tan bodysuit, assumed the role of Fairy Butt Mother to a hapless gymgoer.

Nike and Skims were mum on how their new partnership would be marketed, but Ms O’Neill praised Kardashian as an “incredible business leader” in a way that reminded her of Jordan.

Mr Grede went further in talking up his co-founder.

“It’s hard not to think of her as the Michael Jordan of influencers,” he said.

For Skims, the Nike pairing is another avenue of expansion for a company that in its six years has risen from a striver in the shapewear industry to its key player. In 2023, Skims was valued at US$4 billion. Today, it has six stores across the US.

“Skims deserves to be a public company one day,” Mr Grede said, acknowledging investor speculation, but for now the company is “very much enjoying what we’re doing”.

In Nike, Skims found a partner offering not only field-researched materials and production capabilities, but also an expansive distribution network. The aim is for NikeSkims products to be sold through Nike’s retail partners in the near future.

“We didn’t want to go into this very large category and do something small,” Mr Grede said.

Skims, he said, wanted to do something grand and unexpected, and “Nike gave us the opportunity to do it”. NYTIMES