Kim Kardashian West’s Skims Launches in the Middle East
Skims has taken up a new residence once again — this time in the Middle East.
The shapewear and innerwear brand started by Kim Kardashian West is now available at Ounass.com, the luxury platform selling men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, footwear, beauty and home goods in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi and the United Arab Emirates.
“The people in the Middle East are very fashion savvy and they are trendsetters,” Eda Kuloglu, chief merchandising officer at Ounass, told WWD. “And we always felt that this market needed a shapewear option for our women for solutions to enhance their silhouettes. [In the past], the only options were very limited in our market. We always wanted to offer our woman the best, the most elevated, luxury option from the most desired and top brands in the world. Skims is the perfect answer because the brand is for everybody, from petites to plus sizes, every color and shape. It’s everyone’s first choice and has a loyal following and people love Kim Kardashian.”
The collaboration with Ounass marks Skims’ second international expansion. In October, Skims launched at Selfridges in England. Skims is also available at Net-a-porter and Nordstrom, in addition to on Skims.com. The brand, which Kardashian West started more than a year ago, has been rumored to sell out of several collections.
“I am so excited for Skims to continue to expand and have a larger global presence,” Kardashian West said. “I first visited Dubai back in 2011 and it’s one of my favorite places. I can’t wait for Ounass customers to discover and try the products.”
The entire Skims assortment — including lingerie, loungewear, sleepwear and traditional shapewear — landed on the Ounass web site earlier this month.
So far the Cozy Collection, filled with loungewear essentials, has been the number-one seller, followed by the Velour collection (also loungewear) and the Seamless Sculpt, respectively.
And while the future of shapewear might be uncertain as consumers hunker down at home and large-scale events are postponed or altogether canceled, Kuloglu said the structured pieces continue to trend well in the Middle East.
“The fashion, it’s a little bit different than the States,” she said. “People here, they still wear their dresses; they are still very chic. Even during the pandemic, dresses were selling very well, when the rest of the entire world was selling loungewear.”
Kuloglu added that the partnership is a long-term collaboration with Skims. “The more new collections they have, our plan is to introduce them [at ounass.com],” she said.
In addition to being the only place to buy Skims in the region, Ounass offers two-hour delivery to shoppers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, thanks to a warehouse in Dubai. The company also recently opened a warehouse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is aiming for three-hour delivery in the country.
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