Skims got down to revolutionize the “shapewear” class — primarily tight-fitting undergarments that assist “form” and clean the physique beneath clothes, usually a costume or form-fitting outfit. It is not a glamorous class like lingerie or luxurious footwear, and for many years it was dominated by stiff, uncomfortable, beige-only merchandise made by legacy gamers who hadn’t meaningfully up to date their supplies or design philosophy in years.
Skims flipped that total business on its head. As an alternative of inflexible, old-school shapewear, Kardashian and the Gredes launched mushy, stretchy, breathable materials in a variety of tones and sizes. They turned a non-public, often-uncomfortable product into one thing aspirational, wearable, and social-media-friendly.
Upon releasing its first on-line stock drop, Skims offered $2 million value of product in 10 MINUTES. That sort of immediate demand made it clear the model wasn’t simply filling a niche — it was… pardon the pun… reshaping… the complete class. Fairly quickly, buyers got here calling. Over the following few years, Skims grew to become one of the vital sought-after non-public attire corporations on the earth, elevating capital at more and more jaw-dropping valuations. Together with a very jaw-dropping valuation that was simply revealed as we speak…
(Picture by Kevin Mazur/Getty Photos for SKIMS)
Skims’ Skyrocketing Valuations
The numbers behind Skims’ rise are wild.
In April 2021, Skims raised capital at a $1.6 billion valuation, an astonishing determine for a two-year-old shapewear startup. Lower than a 12 months later, buyers pushed that valuation to $3.2 billion, a soar that helped cement Kim Kardashian’s standing as a newly minted billionaire. In 2023, the corporate raised one other $270 million in a Collection C spherical, nudging its valuation to $4 billion.
Behind these numbers was actual monetary efficiency. Skims generated roughly $500 million in income in 2022 and was on tempo for $750 million in 2023. The model has since crossed $1 billion in annual web gross sales because it expanded into underwear, loungewear, males’s fundamentals, attire, and high-profile partnerships. Retail shops opened throughout New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Boca Raton, and extra, giving the digital-native model a powerful brick-and-mortar footprint for the primary time.
All of that momentum led to as we speak’s information: Skims simply raised cash at a $5 billion valuation after closing a brand new $225 million funding spherical led by Goldman Sachs Alternate options and BDT & MSD Companions. That determine places Skims among the many most precious privately held trend corporations on the earth and positions the model for aggressive worldwide growth, together with rising markets that executives have pointed to as the following main progress frontier.
And that $5 billion determine units up crucial query… how does this influence Kim Kardashian’s web value?
Reshaping Kim’s Web Value
Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede are broadly believed to every personal 1/3 of Skims, with Jens’ spouse and co-founder Emma Grede proudly owning a smaller stake. Mixed, the trio maintains majority management of the corporate. With Skims now valued at $5 billion, Kardashian’s estimated stake is value $1.67 billion on paper. On the firm’s earlier $4 billion valuation, Kim’s stake was value $1.32 billion. That $350 million paper enhance has pushed Kim’s web value from $1.7 billion to $2 billion.
The Richest Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s new $2 billion web value does not simply put her on the high of the Skims empire. It locations her miles forward of her already extraordinarily rich and intensely well-known members of the family. Even in a household the place everybody has monetized fame at an elite stage, no person is working anyplace close to Kim’s monetary tier anymore. She’s now almost THREE TIMES richer than Kylie Jenner. Here is how the Kardashian/Jenner household at the moment stacks up from richest to least wealthy:
- Kim Kardashian — $2 Billion
- Kylie Jenner — $700 Million
- Kris Jenner — $170 Million
- Kourtney Kardashian — $65 Million
- Khloé Kardashian — $60 Million
- Kendall Jenner — $60 Million
- Caitlyn Jenner — $25 Million
- Rob Kardashian — $10 Million
What Ever Occurred To Spanx?
Earlier than Skims took over the shapewear world, Spanx was the undisputed class king. Based in 2000 by Sara Blakely with only a $5,000 preliminary funding, Spanx ultimately dominated department shops and have become one of the vital profitable attire startups in historical past. However in recent times, the model has noticeably light from the cultural highlight — particularly in comparison with the rocket-ship rise of Skims.
In 2021, Sara offered a majority stake in her firm to Blackstone at a reported $1.2 billion valuation. The sale formally made her a billionaire.
After the sale, Blakely stepped again from day-to-day operations and the corporate shifted right into a extra conventional private-equity working mannequin. Advertising and marketing quieted down, product innovation slowed, and the once-disruptive model step by step grew to become a steady, mature attire enterprise as a substitute of a trend-driving pressure.
In the meantime, the market modified. Skims entered with a very totally different technique: inclusive tones, fashionable materials, aggressive social-media advertising, celebrity-powered storytelling, and a product line that expanded far past fundamental shapewear. Customers gravitated to the more energizing, extra fashionable model id. Skims did not simply compete with Spanx — it leapfrogged it solely.
To be clear, Spanx continues to be a big and worthwhile firm, broadly offered in department shops and on-line. And Sara Blakely, because of the Blackstone sale, stays a billionaire. However by way of cultural relevance, progress velocity, and class domination, Skims has absolutely taken over the highlight.
