On the Friday night of London Fashion Week, fans congregated outside the new Skims store on Regent Street, as co-founders Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede celebrated the opening of the London flagship with a star-studded party, attended by Troye Sivan, Kim Petras, Tems, and Central Cee. It’s Skims’s first European flagship, and marks a significant milestone as the label continues to invest in major retail expansion beyond the US.
“You can only describe texture and fabrics in so many ways through what you post on socials, and I can do so many educational tutorials explaining all of that. But it’s a really different feeling for people to be able to come here, try on the product, stretch it, feel it, see what fits for [them],” says Kardashian, speaking to Vogue Business at the store. “Even [down to] design of our store and how we merchandise everything, it’s really important to be able to immerse yourself in our Skims world.”
The 12,000-square-foot flagship, designed by architect Rafael de Cárdenas, is located at 245-247 Regent Street, inside the former Ted Baker store. The space, split across two floors, features a large sculpture by artist Vanessa Beecroft, and racks filled with the entire Skims range, from apparel to underwear. “I remember 20 years ago, driving down the streets of London, everyone had such an individual style,” Kardashian says. “I don’t think I ever dreamed that we would have a store right here.”
Trends across Europe start in London, Grede adds, so it makes sense to start the brand’s European expansion here. And when the Regent Street store became available, it was the perfect spot, in a prime tourism location, close to flagships from Apple to Alo. “Location, location, location,” Grede jokes, referencing the very British TV property show (he lived in London for many years before relocating to LA in 2017).
Skims — which launched in 2019 — is now a $5 billion brand, thanks to the completion of a $225 million capital raise in November 2025, led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives. It’s an impressive five-year trajectory, particularly in a challenging macroeconomic environment, where both high street and luxury players are facing serious headwinds.
With celebrity brands, it’s common to assume success is the result of a founder’s sheer reach and cultural power. Kardashian is a major advocate for Skims on her own channels, and alongside this first-person marketing, she conceives a constant stream of star-studded creative campaigns for each Skims drop, shared widely on social media. Recent examples include the Everyday Cotton campaign with Hailey Bieber, a NikeSkims drop ad with Olympic gold medalists Jutta Leerdam and Chloe Kim, and a tongue-in-cheek Skims men’s campaign with Will Ferrell as fictional golfing legend Lonnie the Hawk.
But these buzzy moments only get customers to buy once, the founders explain. “Seventy percent of our customers are returning customers today,” Grede says. And their loyalty comes down to the product. “I think that people see the marketing, the campaigns, and the stores, and it’s easy to think that builds a company. But it’s really Kim’s obsessiveness around the product.”
Skims has established itself as a solutions-driven label, with an extensive shapewear and underwear line, designed to fit every body type and skin tone, plus a large selection of basics, covering many silhouettes and styles that cater to a broad audience. The brand is continuing to invest in new categories and lines. Last month, Skims tapped Supreme’s former longtime head of design Erin Magee as chief design officer — another investment in the product looking ahead. Last year, Grede and Kardashian launched NikeSkims, a new brand created by Skims and Nike that draws on the former’s shapewear expertise and Nike’s performance capabilities. There’s also an upcoming collaboration with Paris designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin, announced last week. The designer accompanied Kardashian to the London opening.
