Last Monday, Kim Kardashian’s brand, Skims, unveiled their latest campaign for the brand’s new Men’s Terry loungewear line. Among six of the top college basketball players who were named to Skims’ “March All-Stars” team and featured in the promotional shoot, many of us were excited to see that UConn’s own Donovan Clingan made the cut. It’s hard to imagine a world where Kim Kardashian has any connection to men’s college basketball, especially UConn basketball, but nonetheless, this campaign was an incredible move by Skims to further its expansion into menswear.
SKIMS’ MARKETING STRATEGY
When it comes to their creative campaigns, Skims has always been good at creating authentic connections to moments in culture. This strategy has been especially consistent with the sport-focused campaigns that they have released while expanding their men’s collection over the last year. In October, Skims debuted their menswear line with a campaign starring male athletes from several professional sports, including soccer player Neymar Jr., San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa, and NBA All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Days later, they announced an official partnership with the NBA, WNBA, and USA Basketball — this came right before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season. Other advertisements have included a holiday campaign featuring Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his family, as well as one with musical artist Usher, which coincided with his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance announcement. Skims is now taking an opportunity to build ties to college basketball during the sport’s most exciting month at this level.
SKIMS’ NEWEST TARGET AUDIENCE
Skims’ female audience doesn’t require much convincing to purchase from the company. Since its launch as a shape-wear and lingerie brand in 2018, the company has developed a cult following of loyal female customers. However, with these beginnings in mind, Skims’ move into menswear presents a significant challenge. It is already difficult for women’s clothing brands to transition into men’s styles as well, especially for Skims, which started as women’s undergarments and continues to be associated with such.
Despite the challenge, Skims’ expansion into menswear seems to have been handled very well. The endorsement of the brand by some of the top names in professional sports, and now in collegiate sports, adds a layer of credibility and appeal that men need in order to consider buying from Skims. Additionally, Skims has changed its terminology when it comes to the description of its menswear to make it more appealing. They’re replacing words like “sculpting” and “smoothing” with “comfortable” and “relaxed” because, at the end of the day, men’s clothing is all about functionality and comfort. Combine the functional aspects of these clothes with endorsements from a guy’s favorite athlete, and you’ve got a winner.
It’s also worth noting that these efforts aren’t simply recruiting male customers; they’re also bringing more of a female audience to the sports industry. It’s a clever, win-win situation for both Skims and the professional sports that they use for promotion.
WHAT ABOUT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL?
Despite being met with mostly positive feedback, there were still some social media critics who expressed disappointment that Skims did not include or create a separate campaign featuring female collegiate basketball players. While I don’t believe this choice was intended to be a snub to female athletes, given that the campaign’s goal was to sell a men’s line, I do think it would be a fun idea for Skims to create a collection featuring female athletes in the future. While Skims has previously worked on sports-themed campaigns with female models, they have yet to collaborate with an actual female athlete.
Skims already have a connection to the WNBA, which could serve as the perfect gateway to a future campaign with women’s basketball players. With the 2024 WNBA season starting in May, a Skims collaboration could be the perfect way to draw some extra attention to the league. It’s likely too late in the season to put together a college basketball collection for women athletes, but there are definitely some big names in women’s college basketball who could be used for campaigns next season. Women’s sports, especially basketball, have grown in popularity (and deservedly so) over the last year or two, and Skims should definitely want to consider capitalizing on this.
Skims has become one of my favorite brands when it comes to their creative campaign concepts. This “College All-Stars” campaign has become one of my favorites, along with the Valentine’s Day collection starring Lana Del Rey and the ’60s aprés-ski inspired holiday shoot from this past winter. I’m excited to see how they continue these connections with professional athletes, and I’m even more interested (and hopeful) to see whether they do the same with female athletes.