Why ​the NikeSkims brand partnership is one to watch in 2025

In February, Nike announced a new partnership with Kim Kardashian’s shapewear company Skims, with plans to launch the NikeSkims brand. 

The anticipation to get our consumer hands on the apparel, footwear and accessories hitting the marketplace this spring is at an all-time high. I have long been a fan of Nike and an admirer of Kim Kardashian as a savvy founder and business leader. Here’s why this match has the potential to be one of the most successful partnerships this year, and an opportunity for both brands to capture the attention of more consumers.

Nike can build on inclusive and accessible sizing

Following the announcement of NikeSkims, Nike’s share price rose to 6.2%, to close at $77.59 while other stocks were flat that day. This jump assessed $6.7 billion to the brand’s market value. This part of Nike’s plan to help turn around the brand, with Nike Veteran Elliott Hill back to lead the business.

About 40% of Nike’s customers are women. In 2024, apparel only represented about 28% of Nike’s brand revenue. Women tend to shop more than men and spend more money on clothes, and Nike’s competitors have filled that gap. With NikeSkims, the Nike brand has the opportunity to reach more women through inclusive and accessible sizing. Skims is known for inclusive sizing, aiming to be accessible and body positive with its product and models. The brand offers sizes ranging from XXS to 4X, and released an underwear line for individuals with limited mobility, with adaptive clothing features including easy-access closures with a range of sizes. It’s an opportunity for Nike to build more apparel products that are accessible to all women, taking the lead from Skims.

Skims can solidify its footprint in sports

Skims has been testing the waters of the sports space the past few years, a market that is valued in the US alone at $213 billion. The brand did the Olympic collections for Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024. And just last year, the brand became the WNBA’s official underwear partner. In its marketing campaign, the brand features athletes Cameron Brink, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Candace Parker and Kelsey Plum. 

Currently, the Skims brand appears to have a limited number of items that could be used for light sports activity. And by partnering with Nike, this can be a moment where Skims becomes a brand to contend with in sportswear. It’s also an opportunity for celeb business mogul Kardashian to share her workout regimen while touting NikeSkims apparel she wears herself when working out. As always, there is the potential to leverage her power-packed Rolodex and include famous family members and friends to highlight how they like to keep in shape as she builds the Skims brand in sportswear.

Together, NikeSkims can dominate the activewear market

As consumers, we want clothing that not only looks great on our body types, but that is also functional and enables a strong workout. Consumers today are all about convenience—we want to be able to wear workout clothing that also fits into the rest of our lives; picking up kids from school, grabbing a cup of coffee and hopping on a Zoom meeting with workout leggings and an appropriate blouse. 

This is exactly why NikeSkims is poised to dominate the activewear market: To design and curate pieces women can use with ease between high impact workouts and everyday wear. It has an opportunity to focus on function versus just being another lifestyle brand. NikeSkims can compete with Alo Yoga, Lululemon, Vuori and others in the marketplace. NikeSkims is poised to be one of the best partnerships of 2025—let’s see if it can capitalise on the momentum and the combined power of Kim Kardashian and the power of the swoosh.

Mita Mallick is the author of Wall Street Journal bestseller Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace.