Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS has become a high-end shapewear brand loved around the world, but a damning report has revealed the company has a dark side.
Remake, a global advocacy group, gave the $4 billion apparel giant a score of zero in its 2024 accountability report, which assesses brand transparency, pay and employee well-being. employees, environmental impact and sustainability objectives.
The zero placed SKIMS last, alongside fast fashion giant Temu, which has been accused of forced labor and selling products deemed unsafe for human health.
The report criticized Kardashian’s company for its carbon emissions, use of materials harmful to health and the environment, and unfair working conditions at a supply factory in Southeast Asia.
Kim Kardashian’s clothing and shapewear company, SKIMS, received a score of zero in Remake’s 2024 Fashion Responsibility Report, as the company looks ahead to 2025 for an initial public offering.
Even before the evaluation was published in March, Kardashian’s company was criticized for unethical working conditions at a factory in Myanmar.
Bogart Lingerie (Yangon) Limited, a Myanmar-based garment supplier that SKIMS worked with until at least April 2022, had been accused of inhumane wages (including unpaid overtime), wage theft, and harassment and violence. gender.
The supplier has denied these allegations and the SKIMS website states that “all workers in our warehouses and factories receive fair wages, safe environments and healthy working conditions.”
It is unclear whether Kardashian still works with this supplier or others in Myanmar because the company has never released a complete list of its suppliers.
In fact, SKIMS does not offer transparency about the traceability of its supply chain, according to the Remake report.
But the company has previously stated that its products are sourced in Thailand, China and Türkiye, and produced in Thailand and China.
In 2022, SKIMS was accused of greenwashing after the company falsely labeled its packaging as plastic-free, compostable, and made from plants.
‘I AM NOT PLASTIC’ appears in bold letters on each package.
‘I am compostable made from plants. I will biodegrade in your home compost and in an industrial compost facility.’
The packaging is actually made from type 4 plastic, or low-density polyethylene (LDPE), which is recyclable but not biodegradable.
SKIMS products are primarily made from conventional cotton, rayon, and fossil fuel-based materials, all of which have negative environmental impacts.
SKIMS is one of 15 companies assessed in the Remake report that have not committed to setting any science-based emissions reduction targets.
Within this group, SKIMS is also one of 10 companies that have not disclosed any information about their carbon emissions or set targets to reduce them.
The report goes on to show that SKIMS garments are primarily made from materials that directly contribute to environmental pollution, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.
Kardashian herself has been sued by members of her landscaping and maintenance team, who are not associated with the SKIMS brand but are its employees.
Employees claimed the star never paid on time, didn’t allow meal breaks, and fired one on the spot for asking about overtime pay.
Remake’s assessment also revealed a marked lack of transparency around supply chain traceability, employee wages and wellbeing, environmental impact and sustainability goals.
“They don’t reveal anything,” said Alexa Roccanova, senior director of advocacy at Remake and co-author of the report. Supply diary.
‘They have some statements saying they produce with suppliers who share their ethical commitments, that sort of thing, but nothing they say is backed by data. Not to mention that everything they produce relies heavily on fossil fuel-based materials,” he stated.
According to the report, SKIMS products are primarily made from conventional cotton and rayon (a synthetic fabric made from wood pulp).
Conventional cotton farming is associated with the extensive use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals that contaminate rivers, lakes, wetlands and underground aquifers. This practice also significantly degrades the soil and causes erosion.
Rayon has been touted as an eco-friendly material because it comes from a renewable resource: trees. But harvesting wood contributes to deforestation, and producing pulp requires large amounts of acids and toxic chemicals that pollute the air and water.
The manufacturing of SKIMS also relies heavily on petroleum-derived materials such as polyester and spandex, the production of which emits enormous amounts of greenhouse gases.
According to the most recent data available, the production of polyester for textiles produced approximately 1.5 trillion pounds of greenhouse gases in 2015, equivalent to the annual emissions of 185 coal-fired power plants.
The only information that SKIMS has published about its commitment to sustainability can be found in a statement on its website.
‘At SKIMS, we are committed to the highest ethical standards and legal compliance in all aspects of our business and product supply chain. We only work with suppliers and vendors in whom we believe and share our commitment to sustainability, responsibility and transparency,” the statement reads.
SKIMS did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Remake evaluated 52 leading fashion brands on traceability, wages and well-being, business practices, raw materials, environmental justice and governance.
Remake’s annual reports investigate key questions about the ethics of the world’s leading fashion brands, including whether they set and meet carbon emissions targets, pay their workers fairly and promote diversity within the company.
As it does with all companies it evaluates, Remake asked SKIMS to disclose information about the company’s operations in advance of the evaluation to ensure its evaluation was as fair as possible.
Of a total of 52 companies evaluated, SKIMS was among the 28 that refused to share this information.
Because of this, Remake was forced to rely on the company’s publicly available information about its operations to calculate its score.
“Scores depend on public disclosure and reflect a company’s degree of transparency,” the report states.
Remake rated the companies on a scale of zero to 150.
A score of zero indicates the lowest possible level of transparency, goal setting, and progress toward those goals, while a score of 150 indicates the ideal level of transparency and action.
The company with the highest score was Everlane, an American clothing retailer, which earned a score of 40.
This is still far from the highest possible score. The report shows that Everlane and other companies at the top of the list have demonstrated that they are prioritizing ethical and sustainable operations.
But “they still have a lot of room for improvement,” the report states.
In 2022, SKIMS was exposed for greenwashing after the company falsely labeled its packaging as plastic-free, compostable and made from plants.
This scrutiny does not seem to prevent SKIMS open permanent stores in the U.S. and internationally and expand its men’s clothing line.
But there is a chance that the company’s murky social and environmental position will affect its ability to attract more ethically minded buyers, Roccanova told Sourcing Journal.
‘I’m not convinced that the SKIMS customer cares about climate change, but other potential customers do. “So I think if they want to continue to be leaders in this space, they’re going to have to adapt,” he said.
