One Kim Kardashian isn't enough
Skims is doing so well that they can now afford to produce TV commercials (in Q3 last year, it was worth a reported US$4 billion). Their first, unsurprisingly, stars the brand founder Kim Kardashian. She's already a Skims model in many of the other forms of publicity materials the brand puts out, namely what she shares on her socials, such as the one promoting the anatomically-correct brassiere. Amazingly, Ms Kardashian has time to promote other brands when she appears to devote considerable time to Skims. In the Skims TV ad, released on YouTube three days ago, she takes centre screen and there is, self-indulgently, more than one of the full figure of her. We're not sure if this is to promote cloning, deep fakes, or the notion that one Kim Kardashian is really not enough.
The one-minute commercial, shown during the Oscars telecast early this week, is possibly an extension of the Skims Lab name used for her YouTube account. Directed by the London-based artist/filmmaker Fran Lebon, it shows Ms Kardashian as some kind of head researcher or testing technician of a laboratory, putting her Skims merchandise to stress tests in ways that Ikea possibly subject their chairs to. The film starts with a close-up of the side view of the Skim owner's chest, with a name tag that tells us she is a "chief engineer"—not, gasp, the boss. She struts (as if her workplace is a runway), holding a cup filled with what looks like coffee to a space, but before gets there, we are shown an arrow attached to her head that seemingly activates the opening of what sound like sliding doors. She is then seen standing in front a wall of multiple screens that are curiously not flat. She wields a remote control and turns on the monitors.
The screens show her putting her Skims through their paces. There are no sample consumers, only her. Some of the reels are just close-ups of the woman herself—one shows her posing sexily, filmed from the top down, another pans across her bust. What those frames have to do with the tensile strength of the shape wear she sells is not made clear. The only frame that really suggests the stretchability of the fabric she used is one which sees two of her walking in opposite directions, made difficult as they are held by one piece of fabric. It is unambiguous that this is as much about the world-famous Skims as it is about the world-famous Kim. While the brand touts the catchphrase "Fits Everybody" in their comms, the ad shows only one individual, presumably because Ms Kardashian, with her unmistakable silhouette —quickly identified in the first part of the film—is the embodiment of all persons, especially shape-wear-needing ones.
When she is finished with seeing the action on the screens, she goes to a wall that has small oblongs lit like a vending machine. In the middle is a slot. A printout emerges like a receipt at the Fairprice self-checkout. It reads in the header: "Tests Complete", followed by a list of indecipherable items and their corresponding figures. No files of reports, no reams, just that strip of paper. She takes it and moves to another location. The camera now films her from the top. She wears skin-coloured Skims something that allows half her breasts and a very pronounced and shadowed cleavage to be seen. She also wears a clear, plastic outer that looks like a raincoat. Whether it rains indoors in that facility or if she requires some kind of protective gear to look at many monitors is not clear. In her left hand, her cup of coffee shows latte art in the shape of the Skims logo. She goes to another room, hands the slender test report to another self in a long dress, but without the rain wear. This time, a name tag on the left side of her chest reads: "Kim #0001. The Boss". She is the original one! As the camera pulls back, we see a total of 24 Kim Kardashians. Lost in space.
Screen shots: skimslab/YouTube
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