The Kardashians star Kim Kardashian's SKIMS clothing brand was awarded the first-ever award for innovation by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The brand, which specializes in loungewear, underwear and shapewear, was co-founded in 2019 by Kim and Swedish entrepreneur Jens Grede. In the three years since the brand's founding, it has already reached an estimated net worth of $3 billion.
The annual celebration of the CFDA Awards, sometimes dubbed the Oscars of fashion, took place on November 7. Kim's SKIMS brand was awarded the innovation award for its direct influence on the way that consumers shop for fashion. SKIMS has over 4.5 followers on Instagram alone, which isn't surprising considering the brand's co-founder consistently ranks in the top five most followed people on the social media platform. Kim Kardashian posted on her personal Instagram account expressing to fans how proud she is of the brand and thanked Jens and his wife Emma for their support of her dream.
Kim Kardashian Wants More Inclusivity In Fashion Industry
The award was presented to Kim by Martha Stewart, who appeared in a recent episode of The Kardashians when Kris Jenner surprised daughter Khloe with a lunch date with the lifestyle mogul. In her acceptance speech, Kim called for more inclusivity in fashion. The SKIMS brand strives to be size inclusive and currently has sizing from XXS through 4X available on its website. Kim went on to urge others to embrace size inclusivity and diversity in the fashion industry as a "fixture and not just a trend." Other award winners of the night included Lenny Kravitz with the Fashion Icon Award, and Elena Velez as the council's pick for American Emerging Designer.
The entire Kardashian brand seems to be moving towards a more inclusive and diverse image. Fans were even able to see a glimpse of Khloe Kardashian's denim brand as they went through the model casting process during The Kardashians season 1. While Kim has made a great effort to highlight SKIMS inclusivity on Instagram and in other ads, many felt that it went against the brand's supposed values when Kim launched a campaign featuring all former Victoria's Secret runway models. The campaign included models Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, Heidi Klum, and Tyra Banks all posing in SKIMS underwear alongside Kim.
While the campaign initially received positive feedback, fans were quick to notice inconsistencies in the photographs and accused the brand of editing the models to fit traditional modeling body standards. For example, Kim's own waist appeared to be even smaller than fellow model Candice, who is known for having an incredibly thin midsection. It was also assumed that the photographers made serious Photoshop edits to Tyra in the ad as her body looked highly inconsistent with other recent photos of the model. While Kim has made mistakes as she pushes her brands towards a more inclusive and diverse image, fans can only hope that the fashion industry continues to move slowly but surely in this positive direction.
The Kardashians streams Thursdays on Hulu.
Source: Kim Kardashian/Instagram