Kim Kardashian Is Turning SKIMS Into a Sportswear Empire

With NikeSKIMS, Kardashian is doing something bigger than launching workout clothes: she’s putting her signature on the way women dress to move.

Kim Kardashian has spent years convincing us that the clothes underneath the outfit matter.

Now she wants to decide what we wear to work out, too.

The latest chapter of NikeSKIMS is not exactly a surprising move. SKIMS has already expanded far beyond shapewear into underwear, loungewear, swimwear and everyday clothing. But its partnership with Nike takes Kardashian’s fashion empire into a much bigger—and much more competitive—territory: athleticwear.

The latest NikeSKIMS Spring ’26 collection adds new gym essentials, new materials, new colorways and footwear, while continuing the collaboration’s larger idea of creating clothes that can move between performance and everyday life. Kim Kardashian, SKIMS’ co-founder and chief creative officer, is also front and center in the campaign.

And looking at the campaign, one thing becomes pretty obvious:

Kim doesn’t just want SKIMS to be what you wear underneath your clothes anymore. She wants it to be what you wear everywhere.

From Shapewear to the Gym

When SKIMS launched in 2019, its identity was relatively easy to understand.

The brand was built around shapewear, underwear and pieces designed to sculpt the body. It quickly expanded, but that original idea remained at the center of how people understood the company.

NikeSKIMS changes that conversation.

The collaboration’s first collection launched in September 2025 with seven collections and 58 silhouettes, bringing together Nike’s performance expertise with SKIMS’ body-conscious approach. The campaign featured more than 50 athletes, including Serena Williams, Jordan Chiles, Chloe Kim and Sha’Carri Richardson, alongside Kardashian.

That was the big statement:

SKIMS wasn’t just entering sportswear. It was trying to create its own version of sportswear.

And now, the Spring ’26 collection is pushing that idea further.

The Kardashianification of the Gym

There is something very Kim Kardashian about the way NikeSKIMS approaches athletic clothing.

Traditional performance wear tends to talk about technology first: moisture-wicking fabrics, compression, breathability, movement.

NikeSKIMS obviously cares about those things.

But it also cares about the silhouette.

The Spring collection includes Matte, Stretch Knit, Ribbed Seamless, Weightless Layers and Woven Nylon materials, with pieces designed around both performance and a sculpted, feminine look.

It’s basically asking a question that Kardashian has been asking through SKIMS since the beginning:

Why should functional clothing stop being flattering?

That idea is particularly visible in the latest gym essentials capsule, which includes pieces like a Straight-Neck Bra, Airy Track Jacket and Foldover Waistband Skort. The collection also introduces Matte Shine Mix, a sleek material with quick-dry technology and mid-level compression.

Kim Knows Her Customer

The smartest part of NikeSKIMS may actually have less to do with Nike and more to do with understanding who buys SKIMS.

The SKIMS customer isn’t necessarily looking for a hardcore technical running uniform.

She might be going to Pilates.

She might be walking on a treadmill.

She might be getting coffee after the gym.

She might spend half an hour working out and another hour taking mirror selfies.

And she probably doesn’t want to completely change her identity every time she changes locations.

That’s where NikeSKIMS makes sense.

The clothes are designed to move between the gym and everyday life, which fits perfectly into the larger SKIMS philosophy of creating pieces that become part of a person’s wardrobe rather than existing for one specific occasion. Nike describes the Spring collection as a head-to-toe “system of dress” designed to work across different settings.

It’s performance wear for people who still want to look like themselves.

And Then There Is Kim

Of course, Kim herself is part of the strategy.

That is one of the most interesting things about SKIMS: Kardashian is simultaneously the founder, creative director, celebrity, model and marketing machine.

When she wears something from the brand, it doesn’t simply become an advertisement.

It becomes a Kim Kardashian look.

That distinction has helped SKIMS turn clothing into a constant stream of celebrity content. And NikeSKIMS gives her another enormous category in which to do exactly that.

She isn’t just telling customers what the clothes can do.

She’s showing them what the clothes look like on Kim.

The Bigger SKIMS Strategy

This is where NikeSKIMS starts to look bigger than a celebrity collaboration. SKIMS has spent years expanding from underwear and shapewear into loungewear, swimwear and everyday clothing. Now, athleticwear is becoming part of the same ecosystem, with the Spring ’26 collection even introducing footwear.

The goal isn’t simply to sell another pair of leggings. It’s to make SKIMS part of your entire wardrobe—your underwear, pajamas, dresses, shapewear, gym clothes and shoes.

SKIMS is becoming the wardrobe.

The Kim Kardashian Effect

There is a reason this strategy works so well for Kardashian. She has spent years creating a visual language people immediately recognize: body-conscious silhouettes, polished campaigns and an emphasis on the shape of the body.

NikeSKIMS takes that language into sportswear, while Nike brings decades of credibility in performance. Nike gets Kardashian’s cultural influence. Kardashian gets Nike’s athletic authority.

That combination makes the partnership feel bigger than either brand could create alone.

SKIMS Doesn’t Need Kim Forever

There is also a bigger question: can SKIMS become bigger than Kim Kardashian?

It has to.

Kardashian’s image helped build the brand, but eventually people need to want SKIMS even when Kim isn’t in the picture. The original NikeSKIMS launch featured more than 50 athletes, helping shift the conversation from “Kim Kardashian’s workout clothes” to simply “NikeSKIMS.”

And that little change is everything.