Apart from starring in the new Hulu reality series The Kardashians, the famous Kardashian-Jenner family are also entrepreneurs with multiple businesses.
Kim Kardashian is the founder of cosmetics and fragrance company KKW Beauty and the shapewear brand Skims, which was recently valued at $3.2 billion. Kardashian’s youngest sister, Kylie Jenner, is also a billionaire in her own right, when Forbes estimated that her makeup line Kylie Cosmetics was worth $900 million in 2019.
In September 2021, Jenner expanded her empire — which also includes Kylie Skin and Kylie Baby — by introducing a swimwear line called Kylie Swim. However, unlike the success of her previous businesses, Kylie Swim was met with disappointment from eager fans.
Social media users showed off Kylie Swim’s brightly-coloured one-pieces and bikinis on TikTok, but fans were immediately unimpressed by the swimwear brand’s messy seams, “lack of coverage,” and its “sheer” fabric.
Some people even joked that the bathing suits were sewed by Jenner’s three-year-old daughter Stormi: “Stormi baby tried her best.”
“There’s just no coverage,” said one TikToker while trying on a criss-cross bathing suit.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Kim Kardashian launched her own collection of swimwear for Skims on 18 March. The debut collection consists of 19 mix-and-matchable bikini tops, bottoms, one-pieces, and cover-ups. The items range in sizes from XXS to 4X, and are priced at $32 to $108, with a number of neutral-toned colours to choose from.
After Kylie Swim had failed to deliver, several fans were eager to see how sister Kim’s swimwear collection compared to her younger sister Kylie.
“We all know the disaster that was Kylie Swim a few months ago, so I bought a bunch of Skims Swim that just came out to see how it compares,” said TikTok user Hope in a now-viral video.
Right away, she noticed the differences in sizing, saying that Skims Swim provided more “coverage” than Kylie Swim. In the video, a close-up of both the swimwear pieces showed how the straps on the Kylie Swim bathing suit were much thinner than those on the Skims Swim piece.
“The difference in the quality, the straps, the stitching, even the tags,” she said. “This is what $100 swimwear should look like.”
Since it was posted to TikTok last March, Hope’s video has received more than four million views on the platform, and thousands of comments agreeing with her assessment of Kylie Jenner’s brand versus Kim Kardashian’s swimwear collection.
“Kim sells product, Kylie her name,” wrote one user.
“Kim actually sells good quality clothes so the money’s worth it,” commented someone else.
“Kylie still has a lot to learn when it comes to quality,” noted one TikToker. “She was truly passionate about makeup so that’s why it was successful.”
Skims initially launched in 2019 as a shapewear brand and has since expanded to underwear, loungewear, and even dresses.
After announcing Skims Swim last month, Kim Kardashian took to her Instagram story to share in her excitement.
“I am so excited for you guys to see swim, it’s so insane,” the 41-year-old reality star said via Instagram Stories.
“I really wanted pieces for every single body. So if you wanted to cover up and use a sarong, if you want to cover your arms, you can, if you want a triangle top or to fully cover your chest, different kind of bottoms - you just pick and choose.”
