As the nationâs best athletes dig into their final rounds of preparations for the Paris Olympic Games in July and the Paralympic Games in August, thereâs one thing Team USA can cross off their to-do list: figuring out which underwear and sweatpants theyâre going to lounge in during their downtime in the Olympic Village.
Kim Kardashian and her intimates and loungewear brand Skims are running back their partnership with Team USA for the Summer Games, which debuts today with a new campaign starring a host of Olympic and Paralympic athletes: gymnast Sunisa Lee; sprinters Fred Kerley and Gabby Thomas; dual-team sprinter and soccer midfielder Nick Mayhugh; and swimmers Jessica Long and Caeleb Dressel.
The upcoming Paris Games marks Skimsâs third official partnership with Team USA, which began with âoff-dutyâ womenswear collections at the Tokyoâs Summer Olympics in 2021 and Beijingâs Winter Olympics in 2022. This latest outing will be the first to include menswear, following the launch of a Skims menâs line last fall, âafter so many male athletes were requesting it the past two Games,â Kardashian told GQ in an email. The new collection will include patriotic printed underwear, T-shirts, swimsuits, loungewear, as well as updated adaptive pieces designed for athletes with disabilities.
From its ongoing Team USA collaborations to a multiyear partnership as the âofficial underwearâ of the NBA and WNBA, professional sports have become a pillar of Skimsâs branding strategy. Theyâve tapped pro athletesâwho, occupationally, tend to make good underwear spokesmodelsâfrom across the sports world for its campaigns; when Skimsâs menswear debuted, the inaugural ads starred the NBAâs Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NFLâs Nick Bosa, and soccer superstar Neymar Jr. (Timely, star-studded campaigns, such as one featuring a shredded Usher ahead of his Super Bowl performance, are another Skims hallmark.)
Per Kardashian, who describes herself as an athlete and grew up in an Olympic familyâher former stepparent, Caitlyn Jenner, won a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Gamesâthis is intentional. âSkims is very personal to me and an extension of who I am, so my interests are often reflected in the brand and where we position ourselves,â said Kardashian.
âSports and fitness have always been really important in our family growing up,â she explained. âWhether itâs skiing every winter or playing a game of tennis on the courts with my parentsâor now, with my own children, showing up to cheer on my kids at a soccer or basketball gameâI love the way it brings everyone together.â
For Kardashianâs Skims co-founder Jens Grede, the Team USA collaboration is also personal. âWe all want to be involved with things that make our kids excited,â Grede told me in a Zoom interview. Plus, he added, âthe intersection of sport and fashion has just never been [more] relevant,â citing the rising stock of the tunnel walk among the WNBAâs stylish rookie class. âFor us as a brand that tries to be in the moment, that tries to add to the conversation of popular culture, we always pursue those opportunities.â
While fashion designers have crafted Olympic uniforms for decades, high-profile commercial collaborations are an increasingly visible part of the Gamesâ promotional cycle. As reported by GQâs Tom Lamont, the French billionaire Bernard Arnault, owner of the luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH, and his family have implanted their products, from custom Louis Vuitton medal trunks to flowing bottles of celebratory Moët, across this summerâs Parisian Games. The opportunities for branding run deepâright down to the skivvies.