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Fendi x Skims Collection Blends Both Brands’ Ethos

By Martino Carrera

Kim x Kim equals Fendi x Skims.

As fashion collaborations continue to proliferate, Kim Kardashian West and Kim Jones teamed up for the much anticipated Fendi x Skims capsule, which is sure to generate buzz and set the hype engine running.

Announced on Monday, the codesigned capsule collection blends the codes of both brands and spans shapewear, lingerie, swimwear, outerwear and accessories.

Based on a 1979 Fendi collection designed by the late Karl Lagerfeld, the collection combines the body enhancing qualities of

Skims’ shapewear and the Fendi fashion lexicon, which Jones has been rebooting with a contemporary touch since his arrival at the Roman house in 2020.

Te idea, Jones reveled, was inspired by his team at Fendi, which includes Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and men’s wear, and Delfina Delettrez Fendi, artistic director of jewelry. While brainstorming around a table “suddenly, all the women went silent and started looking at their phones. I didn’t know what was going on, but they were waiting for the launch of the new Skims collection. It was then that I thought: let’s do something together,” the British designer said.

Formfitting tops and tank dresses are crafed from engineered velvet, while both brands’ logos appear on reversible skin-tight jersey, embossed knitwear and printed one-piece swimsuits and

see-through lingerie. A $4,200 bonded leather dress comes in a gradient of flesh tones, a nod to Skims’ inclusive offering. Te palette spans muted as well as daring colors, including black, military green and fuchsia.

Building on the Roman house’s expertise in leather goods and accessories, the Fendi x Skims range is complemented by new versions of the Peekaboo, Baguette and Fendi First bags, as well as the Sunshine Shopper covered in FF logos. Shearling hiking sandals and new iterations of the Fendi First heels are also part of the tiein.

Te collection drops on Nov. 9 at 6 a.m. PST on the dedicated fendiskims.com e-commerce site and will also be available at select Fendi flagships and retailers worldwide.

“Both Fendi and Skims have a cultural power very different from each

other, but equally as strong,” offered Kardashian West. “We share a desire to push boundaries, think differently and challenge convention which is why we found so much common ground

collaborating on this collection together.”

Te American mogul and red-carpet darling has been building a strong reputation in the fashion industry, and with her social media presence she has carved out a group of fans that are watching her every move and are expected to cop the capsule collection as soon as it drops next month. Jones offered that the tie-up is in sync with his mission for the luxury house owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. “My Fendi is about creating something for every woman, every different shape — and that’s something at the heart of Skims, too,” he explained.

Campaign images shot by Steven Meisel are fronted by Kardashian West, alongside models Precious Lee, Tianna St. Louis, Jessie Li and Grace Valentine. Marking the capsule’s debut, the two companies also conscripted artist Vanessa Beecrof to interpret the

collaboration, which resulted in images inspired by her live performances, with models donning looks from the capsule on a moving platform. Te artist already shot campaign images for Skims and has been a collaborator to Kanye West’s Yeezy fashion performances.

“Kim Kardashian West is doing a lot to celebrate inclusivity — including her admirable work with social justice in America — and as a hard-working woman with a family, she is constantly striving to do her best. Tese values are something to celebrate,” Jones said.

Unveiled for fall 2019, the undergarment company boasts an inclusive bent and has placed the shapewear industry into

the spotlight, tapping into the growing demand for occasion-based innerwear.

While consumers began ditching the body-shaping garments at the start of the pandemic as they hunkered down at home and canceled events, they are once again seeking shapewear pieces, with sales of the category up 27 percent in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year, according to Te NPD Group’s Consumer Tracking Survey.

Skims has been expanding its reach by venturing into retail with a pop-up in Los Angeles and debuting at 25 doors and online at Nordstrom, as well as at Selfridges in the U.K. Earlier this year Kardashian West told WWD that she’s

planning the launch of a men’s line and that more retail is in the pipeline, given the robust success the brand experienced during the pandemic.

“Kim Jones and I have been close friends

for years,” noted the entrepreneur. “I love his creative spirit and how he understands luxury in a way that makes total sense for how people want to dress. He works extremely hard, and as a workaholic myself, I recognize and admire the passion he puts into everything he does.”

Supreme and catapulted streetwear onto the global luxury radar. He has also made collaborations an integral part of his tenure at Dior Men, teaming up with artists such as Kaws, Daniel Arsham and Peter Doig, before working with rapper Travis Scott for the spring 2022 collection last June. Since taking over the creative lead at

To be sure, the tie-up reflects Jones’ penchant for collaborations.

Te British designer masterminded the collab between Louis Vuitton and

Fendi, Jones has been refreshing the image of the luxury house. For instance, during the most recent Milan Fashion Week Fendi’s Jones and Donatella Versace orchestrated a creative swap for pre-fall 2022 called “Fendace,” presented with a star-studded show.

In the pre-Jones era, Fendi partnered with Nicki Minaj on a capsule collection in 2019 which encompassed ready-towear, footwear, accessories and bags.

As reported, rumors of a potential Fendi and Skims collaboration surfaced online earlier this year when Kardashian West visited the company’s headquarters at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome, leaving fans and tabloids speculating about a potential tie-up. Tey were further reinforced in mid-October afer Instagram account @connie_personal_ shopping, a personal shopper based in the U.K., posted a range of pictures from the collection to her Stories, which were then removed.

The Nike x Tiffany & Co. collab is a match made in branding heaven

By Elizabeth Segran

Forget catwalks: Te NBA tunnel walk is where fashion is happening these days.

Last night, the NBA released an Instagram video showing LeBron James walking underneath Madison

Square Garden fully decked out in pieces from the new Tiffany & Co. x Nike collaboration that won’t drop till March 7. He wore a black letterman jacket with slick leather sleeves, featuring lots of Tiffany branding in its easily identifiable blue color. To finish off the look, he donned the unreleased Tiffany & Co. x Air Force 1 sneakers,

featuring a robin’s-egg blue swoosh, that will retail for $400. Nike says that the launch will also include limitededition sterling silver shoe accessories, including a shoe horn and shoe brush that will be priced between $250 and $475.

James’s strut was clearly choreographed by both brands. Te collaboration had only been announced 24 hours prior, and decking out James in the new pieces was a savvy move to drum up

excitement from fans and the media. Te strategy appears to be working, given how much news the partnership has received so far.

Collaborations are a fairly new strategy for Tiffany that began when French luxury conglomerate LVMH acquired the 186-year-old American jeweler in January 2021. At that time, 30-yearold Alexandre Arnault—the son of LVMH’s founder and CEO—became Tiffany’s executive vice president of product and communication. Arnault has spearheaded the steady stream of collaborations that have come out of Tiffany since. Some have been with other luxury brands, like Fendi and watchmaker Patek Philippe, but also with streetwear brand Supreme and artist Daniel Arsham. Te company

has created Tiffany blue basketballs and footballs with Wilson.

Te Nike partnership is notable given it’s Tiffany’s first collaboration with a mass market brand that will allow the company to engage with a broader swath of young consumers.

Te goal, as with many collaborations, is to breathe new life into a dusty

making it part of cultural zeitgeist” he says.

heritage brand. And even though the fashion industry is oversaturated with brand partnerships, Arnault appears to have his finger on the pulse of what makes a collaboration stand out. “We’re trying, little by little, to take advantage of everything Tiffany has been doing over the last 200 years as the only American luxury brand, and bring it into the current moment,

Tis isn’t a new strategy for Arnault, who tapped his collaboration playbook when he became the CEO of the German suitcase company Rimowa in 2016, afer LVMH acquired it. Rimowa partnered with everyone from Louis Vuitton to Supreme to Off-White. Te company also teamed up with smaller, with other artists and brands. Collaborations have been a mainstay of the fashion industry for the past decade. Initially, they were rarer and more noteworthy, but over time, brands have churned them out with increasing velocity. In 2023, we’re expected to see partnerships between Gucci and Adidas, Burberry and Supreme, Dior and Birkenstock, and Jacquemus

independent artists and labels, like the French label NASASEASONS and the Japanese brand United Arrows. Arnault believes constant novelty and creativity is crucial to the success of modern luxury brands. “You need to be a part of the cultural conversation,” he says. “I feel like Tiffany wasn’t part of the conversation over the past few years.” One of the first things he did when he joined Tiffany was to build a team that was able to react quickly to what was happening in culture and find ways to engage. Tis has involved launching campaigns with the likes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z , and collaborating

and Nike. According to Kayla Marci, analyst at the fashion analysis firm Edited, collaborations have become so commonplace that they’re losing their power. In her research, she’s found that across the board, collabs tend to sell out at a slower pace. Teir value on the resale market has also declined over time. But that doesn’t mean collaborations aren’t worth doing, Marci adds. Partnerships can be very valuable because they tap into another brand’s audience. She points out that many brands, like Converse, drop collaborations every few weeks. Te Converse collaboration with Comme Des Garcons in 2009 was so successful that the brands regularly put out new styles. “For some brands,

collaborations are just a part of the core product strategy,” she says. But even in a crowded landscape of collaborations, it’s possible for certain partnerships to stand out. Part of the reason the Tiffany & Co. x Nike collaboration works so well, Marci says, is that it’s unexpected. “It was an out of the box move for Tiffany, especially considering its history,” she says. “ Te brand is so associated with diamonds and jewelry. Tis positions it clearly in the fashion category.” She says this also has the potential to expand Tiffany’s product range into shoes and clothing, even afer this particular collaboration passes.

Te partnership is also surprising because Nike and Tiffany have such

different audiences and price points. Priced between $250 to $475, the products within this collection— including the sneaker—will be relatively affordable, given that Tiffany jewelry tends to run run in the thousands of dollars. But Marci believes it will allow Tiffany to tap a younger customer base. “Nike resonates with the Gen Z consumer,” she says. “And the collaboration combines two very powerful symbols—the Nike swoosh and Tiffany blue—that are instantly recognizable.”

With his signature collaboration strategy, Arnault is establishing himself as the leader of a new generation of luxury goods. In the past, luxury fashion houses worried about partnering with mass market labels for fear that they would dilute their brand. And many tended to be conservative about their marketing efforts to keep up the aura of exclusivity. But this isn’t Arnault’s worry. “I worry about brands that are too pure and aren’t relevant,” he says. “It’s a delicate balance, for sure. But once you master it, you’re able to speak to a wide range of customers, from the high jewelry buyer to her granddaughter.”