SKIMS Is Coming to India
SKIMS is officially entering India through an exclusive partnership with Reliance Brands, with its first stores planned for Delhi and Mumbai before expanding into additional cities and digital channels. The move comes as SKIMS continues to build its international retail presence following openings in markets including London and Dubai.
SKIMS is not arriving as an unknown brand. Many consumers have already been exposed to the company through social media, celebrity culture, product reviews, campaigns, and Kim Kardashian herself. By the time the doors open in Delhi and Mumbai, SKIMS will be giving physical access to a brand relationship that, for some consumers, has already existed digitally for years.
That changes the traditional order of international expansion. Historically, a brand might enter a country, open stores, invest in advertising, and gradually build awareness. Social media has made it possible for awareness and aspiration to develop long before distribution catches up. Consumers can follow a brand, understand its products, develop preferences, and even participate in the culture surrounding it without having a store anywhere near them.
SKIMS is particularly well positioned for that kind of expansion. Since launching in 2019, the company has moved beyond shapewear into underwear, loungewear, menswear, and other categories, while keeping a very recognizable point of view around the body, comfort, fit, and modern basics. Kim Kardashian's visibility obviously gives the company enormous reach, but I think SKIMS has been successful because the brand itself has become recognizable beyond its founder.
India also makes sense because the consumer landscape is changing. Deloitte's recent research describes a growing population of digitally connected consumers who are willing to spend on mid-premium and premium fashion while still being thoughtful about value. Roughly 40% of surveyed consumers had tried a new fashion brand within the previous year, suggesting a market that is open to discovery and experimentation.
That doesn't mean international brands can assume recognition will automatically translate into sales. India's fashion market is sophisticated, highly varied, and competitive. Consumers have access to domestic brands, international brands, marketplaces, social commerce, and global fashion content, which means a well-known name still has to justify its price, assortment, and relevance.
I think that is one reason the Reliance partnership matters so much. Reliance Brands has extensive experience bringing international fashion and luxury companies into India, which gives SKIMS local knowledge around retail, distribution, digital commerce, and consumer behavior. A globally successful product assortment cannot simply be copied into every market and expected to perform in exactly the same way.
The category itself also appears to be moving in SKIMS' direction. Shapewear in India is being discussed less as something reserved for special occasions or body correction and more as part of everyday dressing. Comfort, seamless construction, versatility, and body confidence are becoming more important, particularly among younger consumers and working professionals.
That shift makes SKIMS more than a shapewear brand entering a new country. Its broader positioning around comfortable basics, underwear, and products designed to work with the body fits into a larger move toward clothing that consumers can integrate into everyday life rather than reserve for specific moments.
There is also something interesting happening around premiumization. Consumers do not necessarily need a product to be luxury in the traditional sense to spend more on it. They may pay a premium for better fabric, fit, design, functionality, brand identity, or just an experience they believe is meaningfully better. SKIMS has built much of its business around that middle ground: accessible enough to feel culturally widespread, but aspirational enough to command a premium over mass-market basics.
Physical retail could be important in translating that proposition to India. SKIMS sells products where fit, fabric, stretch, support, and comfort matter, and those qualities are difficult to communicate entirely through a screen. Being able to touch the fabric, understand sizing, and try products on gives consumers something digital discovery cannot fully replace.
From a consumer behavior perspective, that is what I find most interesting about this expansion. Social media may create the desire, but retail still has to convert that desire into confidence. A consumer can know exactly what SKIMS looks like on Instagram and still need to understand whether the product works for her body, her wardrobe, her climate, and the way she actually dresses.
SKIMS' move into India reflects how global brand expansion is changing. Consumers are discovering brands before those brands officially arrive, which means companies can enter new markets with awareness already built in. The challenge is converting that awareness into a local experience that feels relevant enough to create long-term demand.
I think we will see more brands follow this pattern: digital culture builds familiarity first, physical retail follows once demand becomes visible, and local partners help translate a global brand into a market-specific business. SKIMS already has the cultural visibility. India will test how effectively that visibility can become something much more important: a lasting consumer relationship.
Dania Khalife
