And speaking of Skims…

For the past two years, Wall Street and Seventh Avenue have been salivating over an expected Skims I.P.O., which would create generational wealth for co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede and their investors. Last November, the shapewear brand was generating around $100 million in annual EBITDA when it raised $225 million at a $5 billion valuation. This year, it could generate north of $200 million, I’m told. That is a remarkable outcome in a sector overflowing with spectacular failures, and one that seemed to presage an imminent exit into the public market.

But the narrative of invincibility isn’t quite what it was. Skims has seen a mini exodus of key executives in recent months. More recently, Sarah Stroub, the senior vice president of planning who reported to finance chief Andy Muir, decamped to Vuori. And Paula Galperin, co-general manager of NikeSkims, just left for the top job at swimwear startup Frankies Bikinis. I’m told that other senior executives may also be actively looking for an off-ramp. (Skims declined to comment on that speculation.)

Meanwhile, the company appears to have miscalculated consumer demand. In its early days, Skims often produced too little—guaranteeing that product would sell out, limiting revenue but adding to its brand lore. Now an overcorrection has led to inventory surpluses, with unsold seasonal items sitting in its warehouses for months. Skims contests that framing: “We carry two buckets of inventory: seasonal products and always available products that are bought to never sell out,” a spokesperson told me. “Across both, we believe our inventory turns are at a healthy place for a business of our size and stage.”

Nevertheless, there’s an undeniable feeling that the brand has lost some altitude, perhaps as a result of its increasing ubiquity. There’s a growing contingent of customers who have complained about a decline in product quality as the company has scaled. At some point before the NikeSkims launch last year, I’m told, online sales were down at least 10 percent. And the NikeSkims collab, which took years to incubate and went through six iterations before getting off the ground, also underperformed various executives’ expectations. Indeed, when the collaboration launched on Skims’ website, sales were only 50 percent to plan, according to sources with knowledge of the business. (“We missed our forecast on day one. Our assumptions were built on prior collaboration history with Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana,” the company spokesperson told me. “We have corrected our modeling and have hit plan since.”)

Skims is also under pressure from a rehabilitated Victoria’s Secret, whose prolonged struggles helped clear the runway for Kardashian’s success. Skims never became the bra juggernaut we imagined—Victoria’s Secret always led in that category—but it did filch an incredible amount of mindshare. Then there was a reversal of fortune: VS reported 15 percent sales growth in the first quarter of this year, quite a feat when it’s comping over $1 billion in a single reporting period. It even landed Hailey Bieber for its Valentine’s Day campaign.

But Skims is still a massive business and growing. I’m told that overall sales are up 25 percent in the second quarter of the year. As part of a yearslong store expansion, the company plans to end the year with 55 new stores, according to sources. And according to one insider, the NikeSkims line alone is currently on pace to hit $400 million by the end of the year, in line with both companies’ forecasts. (Nike did not immediately comment.)

And while Kim, herself, commands less cultural attention than when Skims launched in 2019, the company has found ways to de-emphasize the Kardashian connection. In recent years, Skims has swapped out its key person for a rotation of celebrities: Kate Moss, Brooke Shields, SZA, Usher, Lana Del Rey, and Charli XCX. Last week, the brand unveiled a series of titillating images of Hailey Bieber in bra-and-panty sets, photographed by Mert Alas, to introduce a new line of stretchy cotton undies. And on Monday, it released a cheeky Nadia Lee Cohen–lensed men’s campaign starring Will Ferrell as Lonnie Hawkins—the fictional golfer he portrays in the upcoming Netflix comedy series The Hawk.

Of course, Skims still has work to do before it grows into its $5 billion valuation. Aggressive brick-and-mortar expansion, a strategy that has fueled growth for many brands lately, should help close some of that gap. In the meantime, however, the company’s C-suite has no choice but to be patient. In March 2025, Jens announced that the brand would wait to I.P.O. until the market was more favorable.

As with anything, success will come down to execution—particularly how Jens and Emma Grede, Skims’ chief product officer, perform as custodians of the brand. The powerhouse couple has expanded beyond the Kardashian-Jenner orbit, with stakes in Frame, The Elder Statesman, and model Elsa Hosk’s label Helsa. But a successful exit for Skims surely remains a top priority. “Emma and Jens and Kim are interested in building a generational company,” a person close to Skims told me, suggesting that it could become a $10 billion business one day. “The idea of short-term optimization is antithetical to that proposition.”

Armani is working with Boston Consulting Group to make some business overhauls en route to its much-anticipated 15 percent stake sale in September. [Bloomberg]

Nike’s results for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended in May were mostly expected. Overall revenue was down slightly, thanks to China; wholesale was up a bit; and Converse posted its usual double-digit declines. But the company managed to recoup some tariff money and quintuple its profits. [Nike]

Cathy Horyn calls out the three brands every fashion person is obsessing over right now: Chanel, Versace, and Phoebe Philo. [The Cut]

Until tomorrow,
Lauren

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