When Skims unveils a new ad campaign, the internet takes notice.
Kim Kardashian‘s brand, known for its lingerie, casual wear and shapewear collections, has generated a buzz around the influencers involved that goes far beyond what products they model.
On March 25, Skims released an ad campaign for their new wedding store featuring Alex Cooper, host of the ultra-popular Call her dad podcast. She’s the number 2 podcaster on Spotify, but not the type of conventional celebrity usually chosen for big ad campaigns.
A Skims press release said Cooper was the “perfect” model for this campaign, “not only for how she connects with people and moments in culture, but also for her own individual cultural significance.” This seems to be Skims’ pattern for all his campaigns lately. The brand did not immediately respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
“I’ve always loved Skims and was so excited when they invited me to be part of the campaign,” Cooper said in the press release. “Being a part of the performance before my own wedding makes it an extremely fun celebration.”
Kardashian, who founded Skims in 2019 with Emma Grede, is also the brand’s chief creative officer. She has been known for being famous for nearly two decades, maintaining relevance by starting conversations. She taps models for Skims who are right in the middle of the zeitgeist themselves. As of 2023, the brand is worth $4 billion.
For a holiday apparel ad, Skims featured Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, his wife Brittany Mahomes and their children for a November campaign, amid the Chiefs’ hot streak and Brittany appearing at games alongside Taylor Swift.
Before the Super Bowl, Usher starred in a Skims menswear ad. While everyone was dissecting their high-profile relationships, Kourtney Kardashian and Megan Fox posed together for Skims.
Hannah Eve, founder and CEO of Current Agency, a social media marketing firm, told Yahoo Entertainment that Skims strategically selects vibrant influencers and celebrities to model their clothing in a way that looks more like a magazine cover than of a fashion brand.
“Skims are becoming hardwired into the fabric of pop culture,” she said. “They create exciting moments with partnerships and collaborations, so when they announce a product, we talk about it like it’s so much more than that.”
Eve also noted that even though it’s clearly Kardashian’s brand, she often appears in ads for the brand itself — including that infamous “nipple bra” ad — exists “beyond Kim” and the “Kardashian mob network.” Seeing who gets cast for the next Skims ad is part of the fun for the Kardashian crowd.
“Because they’re so selective, it’s impressive to be chosen for their campaigns,” said Yves. “It’s ambitious to appear in a Skims ad like it’s the cover of Vogue or Sports Illustrated’s Rookie of the Year.”
Eve said it’s strategic that Skims’ advertising stars feel so current because they’re often associated with limited product releases, also known as “drop-offs.”
“It’s very much about urgency – you have a limited amount of time to buy these limited items related to a certain milestone, like [Cooper’s] wedding ad and [Mahomes’] festive daywear,” she explained.
She also predicted that we’ll soon see Sofia Richie in a Skims maternity ad.
As a result, Skims feels there’s life beyond Kardashian — or at least that it’s a product of her culturally understandable persona, not just a means to promote her image.
“If you go to Skims Instagram right now, you have to scroll for a while to see pictures of Kim,” Eve explained. “Look at Rhode, Haley [Bieber] is all above that. Rare Beauty’s feed contains so much Selena [Gomez]. Skims is building much bigger than Kim.
