BURSTING AT THE SEAMS

KIM KARDASHIAN'S SKIMS IS EXPANDING RAPIDLY, FUELING RUMORS OF AN IPO. BUT CAN THE COMPANY EVER REALLY OUTGROW ITS REALITY-TV CO-FOUNDER?

- MAX BERLINGER

Ask Kim Kardashian about her proudest business decision to date, and she may start talking about her breasts. More specifically, the Skims Ultimate Nipple Push-Up Bra, which she released last October for the shapewear brand, based on a mold made of her very own bosom in all its anatomically correct glory.

"I had this crazy idea," Kardashian recalled recently during a video call from her home in Calabasas, a tony suburb northwest of Los Angeles. "My stylist is always like, 'Don't wear a bra!' and I'm just like, 'I can't.' I want to feel comfortable and secure. What if one boob's over here and I'm dancing, you know?" she said with a laugh. "I just always want to look perfect." Thus the creation of the Nipple Bra, which the company released alongside a campy faux-educational climate video starring Kardashian, and a pledge that a onetime donation of 10 percent of sales would go to the charitable network 1% for the Planet. The then $62 bra went viral and sold out in less than a month.

Like most things Kardashian does, the release caused a stir on social media-that was the point. But she didn't expect some of the reactions. "Our intention was to just have fun," she says, "but the response from breast cancer survivors, my grandmother included, who thought it was the coolest bra, was not what I anticipated, in the best way."

That's not to say success was unexpected. The business acumen pumping through Kardashian's shapewear brand, which she launched in 2019 alongside serial entrepreneur Jens Grede, is undeniable, as evidenced by Skims's stratospheric growth. The Los Angeles-based company, which is profitable, more than quintupled its annual revenue over three years, to nearly $713 million in 2023, putting it firmly on Inc.'s 2024 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies, at No. 1,168. And just over a year ago, a $270 million fundraise helped catapult the brand's valuation to $4 billion.