The Kim Kardashian co-founded shapewear brand has fresh capital to grow its retail footprint and expand in apparel and activewear, with beauty and skincare also on deck
Skims has added fresh capital to fuel to its global takeover plan, closing out a year where the brand is expected to exceed $1 billion in net sales.
The shapewear brand, founded by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, has completed a $225 million capital raise, valuing the company at $5 billion.
Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the financing round with participation from BDT & MSD Partners’ affiliated funds.
Skims says the capital will go toward scaling its physical retail footprint, international growth and pushing the brand further into apparel and activewear.
The company now operates 18 owned stores across the U.S. and two franchise locations in Mexico, as it lays the groundwork to become a predominantly physical business.
“Today’s announcement validates the hard work of our incredible team and partners who have helped us reach this exciting new chapter, becoming a global omnichannel retail brand,” Kardashian, who serves as Skims’ co-founder and chief creative officer, said. “We can’t wait to take Skims to the next level as we continue to innovate and set the standard for our industry.”
Skims’ trajectory has also helped prime the runway for NikeSkims, the new brand Nike and Skims introduced earlier this fall with a strategy that leans heavily on athlete credibility and the celebration of women. The launch is a timely win for Nike, which has worked to fend off rising competition from Lululemon, Alo and Vuori in recent years.
NikeSkims is also one of the first major moves under CEO Elliott Hill, who returned to the company last year to lead its turnaround and sharpen its push into women’s activewear.
During Nike’s Q1 2026 earnings call, Hill pointed to NikeSkims as a key piece of the company’s push to bring “something unexpected” to “a new consumer.”
“Nike’s innovation expertise and Skims’ dedication to inclusive apparel has the potential to create a performance training product with a very different look,” he told investors, adding that the debut of the NikeSkims product line drew a “very strong” consumer response.
And don’t call it a collab. Both Nike and Skims have been clear that NikeSkims is a long-term and meaningful brand partnership, not a one-off project. Nike president Amy Montagne has been firm on that positioning, telling Marie Claire this fall that NikeSkims is a “new industry standard.”
Skims has kicked off its holiday push with a new campaign featuring model and social media creator Nara Smith, her husband, model Lucky Blue Smith and their children as the faces of Skims’ holiday shop.
And Skims has more in motion. The company acquired SKKN by Kim from Kardashian and CoverGirl parent Coty, bringing her beauty NIL rights and ventures under the Skims umbrella back in March. Plans are in the works for Skims to expand into beauty, skincare and fragrance in 2026, three verticals that are increasingly intertwined with wellness.
It’s an area Kardashian is invested in — literally.
She recently backed biohacker Bryan Johnson’s supplement and longevity platform Blueprint, joining a high-profile roster of celebrity investors, tech founders and venture names including Paris Hilton, Saquon Barkley, the Winklevoss twins, Jay Shetty, Naval Ravikant, Steve Aoki and others.
