A TALE OF TWO KIMS: Kim Jones and Kim Kardashian West are allegedly cooking up something for Fendi.
According to images leaked on Instagram, the Rome-based luxury house is plotting a collaboration with Kardashian West’s shapewear brand Skims, which is rumored to be dropping sometime next month.
Instagram account @connie_personal_shopping, a personal shopper based in the U.K., posted a range of pictures of midi and mini body-con dresses to her Instagram Stories, as well as an ivory white cropped top and pencil skirt set all embossed with both companies’ logos and crafted from a stretch knitted fabric.
The images, which came accompanied by captions suggesting a November release of the collection, for which the personal shopper and stylist said she was taking preorders, were then removed.
Fendi and Skims representatives did not respond to WWD’s request for comment by press time Thursday.
Rumors of a potential Fendi and Skims collaboration surfaced online earlier this year when Kardashian West visited the company’s headquarters at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in Rome, leaving fans and tabloids speculating about a potential tie-up.
And a collaboration between the two companies would fit with Jones’ penchant for tie-ups.
The British designer, who is Fendi’s artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women, masterminded the collab between Louis Vuitton and Supreme and catapulted streetwear onto the global luxury radar. He has also made collaborations an integral part of his tenure at Dior Men, teaming up with artists such as Kaws, Daniel Arsham and Peter Doig, before conscripting rapper Travis Scott for the spring 2022 collection last June.
Since taking over the creative lead at Fendi, Jones has been refreshing the image of the luxury house.
The collaboration with Kardashian West’s Skims would come after the recent “Fendace†creative swap between Fendi’s Jones and Donatella Versace for pre-fall 2022, presented with a star-studded show held at the tail end of Milan Fashion Week.
In the pre-Jones era, Fendi partnered with Nicki Minaj on a capsule collection in 2019 which encompassed rtw, footwear, accessories and bags.
Kardashian West launched the shape-enhancing undergarment company in fall 2019, and has since expanded its reach by venturing into retail with a pop-up in Los Angeles and debuting at 25 doors and online at Nordstrom, as well as at Selfridges in the U.K.
Earlier this year the mogul told WWD that she’s planning the launch of a men’s line and that more retail is in the pipeline, given the robust success the brand experienced during the pandemic.
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