The fashion world rarely stays quiet for long, but when Nike announced its partnership with Kim Kardashian’s Skims, the internet practically exploded. The partnership, called NikeSKIMS, was meant to roll out this spring, but has already suffered its first setback with delays in production that delayed the rollout to later this year 2025. But here is the actual question everybody is whispering: Is The Nike Collab With Skims A Mistake that could backfire spectacularly?
Let’s dive into this mess because honestly, the timing couldn’t be more questionable.
The Collaboration That Made Wall Street Jump (But Should It Have?)
When Nike first announced The Nike Collab With Skims back in February, investors went absolutely wild. In just one day Nike increased its stock by 6.2 percent and 6.7 billion was added to its market worth. It appeared to be a masterstroke on paper, the athletic giant collaborating with a 4-billion-dollar shapewear company to create a totally new brand that draws women.
However, here is where it gets interesting (and may be problematic). The Skims venture was originally announced by Nike in February and stated it would feature apparel, footwear and accessories, but the activewear will roll out later in the year, rather than in spring, as the companies originally stated due to delays in production.
Such are not mere production delays. According to sources who are close to the issue, they are internal problems and not supplier problems. A high-profile partnership like this one failing this early in the game sends some serious warning signals that this may not have been the best decision Nike ever made.
Kim Kardashian’s Popularity Problem
Here’s the tea nobody wants to spill: Do People Still Like Kim Kardashian In 2025? The answer to this question is complex in the short term, yet not promising in the long term as far as the reality star cum business mogul is concerned.
Going by her Google search interest, she peaked in the early 2010s, and has since then gradual declined, with a minor increase around the 2022 Met Gala and a downward trend since then. More interestingly, this is the first year that she has experienced the lowest amount of search since 2007 when Keeping Up With the Kardashians first premiered.
The figures speak truth, and they are drawing us a portrait of a celebrity whose cultural usefulness continues to decline.
The Athletic Authenticity Gap
Let’s address the elephant in the room: Kim Kardashian isn’t exactly known for her athletic prowess. While The Nike Collab With Skims promises to serve “all women athletes,” Kim K has had a closer connection to sports than to sport itself, including fashion shows in the courts.
This produces a strange dislocation. Nike has created its brand on real sports relationships – Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, LeBron James. They are individuals who eat and breathe sport. Kim Kardashian? Probably the most popular sporting incident that she did was when she attempted to play softball using heels.
The partnership is less about a company like Nike attempting to capitalize on the athleisure market that is saturated with Lululemon and Alo Yoga than it is about creating actual sportswear. It is a commercial gimmick in the form of a sports alliance.
The Skims Success Story vs. Reality
I am not saying Skims has been a failure. In 2024, the brand is said to have achieved sales of $1 billion and has since diversified into loungewear, swimwear and even underwear for men. The brand is profitable, and posted 37 percent compound annual growth rate between 2022 and 2024.
However, what works with shapewear does not necessarily work with athletic wear. These are two entirely different markets having different needs, different customer expectations, and different performance requirements.
Why Women Might Be Turning Away From Kim
That cultural change is a fact, and it does not bode well with Kim. 33 percent of Americans believe that the Kardashians impact on pop culture has declined over the last year, a Newsweek poll indicates. That is an enormous percentage of the population who are actively becoming aware of their waning relevance.
Do People Still Like Kim Kardashian In 2025? The facts indicate that most of them do not. The reason behind the changing attitude of the population could be traced to the over-saturation, shifting trends, emergence of social movements, shifts in attitude towards celebrity, and changes in audience priorities.
Women in particular are turning to more real characters. They do not desire role models who are not real athletes, but made-up personalities. The highly filtered Instagram feed and frequent cosmetic surgeries Kim does, become even more detached than what women today expect their athletic wear brands to be.
Nike’s Desperation Move
I would simply term this as Nike is suffering. Its stock has declined over the last year, sales are declining, and its new CEO needs a little assistance in turning around the fading athletic company. The newer, more nimble competition is catching up with the company and realizing what women actually want with their workout clothes.
The Nike Collab With Skims feels like a Hail Mary pass rather than a strategic partnership. Nike is betting on the wrong horse by relying on the huge social media following of Kim to sell their products.
The Production Delays: A Sign of Bigger Problems?
Those manufacturing setbacks we had noted before? They are more revealing than Nike would like them to be. It can be concluded that the delays are internal and not due to a supplier or shipping problem and it implies that the companies are struggling to align their visions or develop products that actually work.
You have to mix technical athletic prowess of Nike with the shapewear specialization of Skims, and the integration must be smooth. The fact that they’re already hitting roadblocks before the first product even launches doesn’t bode well for The Nike Collab With Skims.
The Backlash Factor
Kim Kardashian has baggage. Always has, always will. Before Kim toasted, she was booed, an incident which the family allegedly pressured Netflix, which aired the event live, to delete a few days post-event.
That is the fact that Nike is collaborating with – a person who is booed in the community events. Is that what you want your new athletic brand to have?
What This Means for Nike’s Future
Nike’s stock might have jumped when The Nike Collab With Skims was announced, but temporary market responses are not necessarily the ones that are successful in the long run. The stock of Nike has declined by over 20 percent this year to date, indicating that celebrity relationships have not fixed the inherent ills within the company.
The true issue is whether this partnership can get Nike back in touch with female customers or drive them out of the market even more through the focus on style, rather than substance, influence, and authenticity.
The Verdict: Mistake or Masterstroke?
Is The Nike Collab With Skims A Mistake? According to the latest trends, it is becoming very dangerous. Nike is taking a huge risk on a celebrity with a plainly declining level of popularity, a not-very-athletic athletic background, and a brand that may do more to divide than unite.
Do People Still Like Kim Kardashian In 2025? The data imply not as much as they did previously. She is at decade-lows in search interest, she has negative publicity, and the cultural atmosphere is turning against the kind of manufactured celebrity she embodies.
Nike could have fared better by collaborating with real female athletes, up-and-coming fitness influencers, or brands that have a real relationship with women athletics. In its place, they selected the largest name possible, whether it made strategic sense or not.
The fact that the production was not finished on time, the falling popularity ratings, and the authenticity gap all lead to the same conclusion: this partnership could bring headlines, but it hardly could bring the long-term brand satisfaction that Nike so desperately requires.
There are occasions, however, when being safe with the biggest names is the greatest danger. Nike might be learning that lesson the hard way with The Nike Collab With Skims. Only time will tell if this gamble pays off, but right now, the odds aren’t looking great.
