Nike announced a new brand launch with mega-mogul Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, indicating a direct effort by the sports company to resuscitate lacklustre sales performance
Nike recently announced their ground-breaking new launch – a joint brand deal with reality TV star Kim Kardashian. Known as NikeSKIMS, the launch will be the first major shakeup since the recruitment of new Nike CEO, Elliott Hill, last year.
Kim made the major announcement on Tuesday, February 18, telling her Instagram followers: “Introducing NikeSKIMS. A new brand coming this spring for the body obsessed. Designed to sculpt and engineered to perform.” She then posted the announcement in her Instagram Story with a link to sign up for the latest news on the collaboration.
According to the Nike website, NikeSKIMS teamed “up to disrupt the global fitness and activewear industry with best-in-class innovation in service of all women athletes — championing their confidence, strength, femininity and competitiveness like never before.”
The collaborative effort between Kardashian and Nike has actually been in the works since October 2023 and marks the first time the sports company has introduced a new brand with an existing external company. NikeSKIMS will focus specifically on women’s athletic apparel, merging Nike’s “world-class approach to advanced innovation, sport science and athlete insights with SKIMS’ obsession for the female form and pioneering pursuit of solutions for every body.”
The partnership is a signal of Nike’s reinvestment in the crowded women’s athleticwear space, leveraging SKIMS’s inclusivity authority and hold on the women consumer market.
The brand announcement also coincides with the release of Nike’s new brand anthem: “So Win”. The new anthem sparked widespread attention with a 60-second spot during Super Bowl LIX, which featured a powerhouse line up of female athletes and is defined as “a celebration of the power of sport.
For anyone paying attention, the joint collaboration isn’t a huge shock. Nike has been stuck as of late, with the company’s wholesale and digital revenues said to be in decline, which wasn’t helped by the resignation of former CEO John Donahoe last October and the preceding decision to lay off more than 1,500 workers.
The newly appointed Hill, who has been with the company for 32 years, expressed his intent to get the company back on track through innovative investment and to do so as quickly as possible. Enter the mother of reinvention: Kim Kardashian.
The collaboration is a strategic play for both parties. Nike is betting big on women and SKIMS looking to cement its performance wear authority. The partnership is also another big sportswear credit for SKIMS.
The shapewear company has been intentional about a strategic pivot into performance-fashion, launching partnerships with Team USA for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, the NBA and WNBA as well as a skiwear collaboration with The North Face. The partnership will grant SKIMS access to the performance tech it needs to level up its product offering.
In addition to cementing SKIMS as a key player in sportswear, the collaboration certifies Kardashian’s power as a spark plug for brands looking to reinvent and reinvest in female consumers. The collection is scheduled to launch in select stores across the US this spring, with a global launch planned for 2026.
