Fans of Kim Kardashian will fondly remember, among other things, her mid-2010s #BalmainArmy era and the many incredible outfits it produced. It was during that time you would rarely see the star in anything other than the then-creative director Olivier Rousteing’s designs for the French fashion house, but it was also during this time that she met the designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin, who was then an intern for the house. While de Saint Sernin has launched his own line and built into a household name in the subsequent years, the two hit it off immediately during that first encounter. “A few years later, we did a fitting together at her house in Calabasas, and I was just mesmerized by her,” de Saint Sernin recalls.
Kardashian has since worn de Saint Sernin on countless occasions—slipping into everything from his crochet bikini tops to extreme ripped jeans. So perhaps it’s no great surprise that, almost a decade later, the pair is expanding their personal relationship into a creative partnership: Today, the pair announces Skims x Ludovic de Saint Sernin, a collaboration coming later this fall. “The conversation has always been open on working together,” says Kardashian, who founded her own brand, Skims, in 2019. “That’s always been a part of our love language: How can we have fun and elevate each other?”
Releasing October 1, Skims x Ludovic de Saint Sernin will be a limited-edition capsule that combines Skims’ signature shapewear pieces with Saint Sernin’s hypersexy, lacy aesthetic. “Our sensibilities are similar,” says Kardashian. “The pieces we made are really classic and simple designs. It has the Ludovic sex element to it, mixed with the simplicity of Skims.”
The collection will take cues from ’90s supermodel style—offering slinky pieces that are imbued with a sense of power and strength—but will also draw from Kardashian’s own archive of looks. “All of her different eras inspired me for this collection,” says de Saint Sernin. “I was going through her archive, and things that I loved seeing on her. We just wanted pieces that enhance the body and make people feel confident. That’s something we share in common: Celebrating the body in every shape and form.”
The mood board (and a sneak peek) for Skims x Ludovic.
Photo: Courtesy of Skims
So, expect to see bodycon dresses as well as an array of separates. “I wanted to make sure that we had a wide variety of pieces: I wanted pants, long dresses, mini dresses,” says Kardashian. “I also really haven’t done a lot of pencil skirts lately, and we wanted to do some [at] that length.” They will all feature detailing such as sheer fabrications, intricate lace-up detailing, and of course, Skims’s signature tonal shades. For Kardashian, it’s these elements that have always drawn her back to wearing Ludovic after all these years, and it made total sense to bring that into her Skims universe. “Anytime I’m needing a little boost of extra confidence or sexiness, I’ll just text Ludovic and be like, ‘What do you got? I need a dress. Something,’” Kardashian says. “Even the other day, I called him, and I was like, ‘Can you just come over and go through my closet and style me?’”
