A Yorkshire woman has claimed that she played a very significant part in the renaming of Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand SKIMS.
Leeds-based marketing manager Georgia Preston has recalled ‘shooting her shot’ with the reality TV star and entrepreneur back in July 2019.
At the time, Kim K had just launched her shapewear range under the name Kimono. But it didn’t take long for Kardashian’s new line to earn criticism over accusations of cultural appropriation, meaning that a rebrand would be the most sensible way forward.
Kim Kardashian renamed her shapewear brand to Skims in 2019. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Nordstrom)
Right before the Kardashians star rebranded her company SKIMS, Preston has claimed to have slid into her DMs to suggest a new name.
The social media expert recently shared her story on LinkedIn, writing: “Five years ago on 26th August 2019, Kim Kardashian announced SKIMS to the world, a now billion-dollar company.”
She continued: “But before that, the shapewear brand was announced under another name that immediately came under fire.
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“As someone who is fascinated with branding, and the Kardashians, I thought up an idea too good not to share, so I chose to shoot my shot and slide into Kimberly’s DMs.”
Preston sent an Instagram DM to Kim – who has over 360 million followers, by the way – which read: “You will probably never see this, but think you should re-name Kimono ‘Skim’ as in to skim the body – and obviously has Kim in the name x.”
Georgia Preston dropped Kim Kardashian a DM to suggest the ‘Skim’ name (Kennedy News and Media)
Preston has since conceded that her delivery could have been ‘more eloquent’.
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“I was clearly eager to share my brain wave and perhaps felt a bit silly for messaging the multi-millionaire (now billionaire) business women who no doubt had a top-tier team around her taking care of it,” she said.
“To me it was obvious, shapewear skims the body, and you can’t spell skim without Kim. Yes, I suggested Skim not Skims, but fans will also recall an episode in Season 17 of KUWTK where Kim and her team debated over Skim vs Skims, so it was once on the table.”
Preston joked that she may have played a small role in the SKIMS relaunch, but is very aware that Kardashian and her business partner Emma Grede may not ever get back to her.
“Do I think Kim read my message in July 2019 and I inspired the whole re-brand? Maybe,” Preston wrote. “Do I think Kim or Emma Grede will see this and hit me up for more ideas? Probably, definitely not.
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The proof is in the pudding… (Kennedy News and Media)
“Do I think the SKIMS team will see this post and send me free SKIMS to say thank you? A girl can dream.”
Speaking further of the moment, Preston recalled: “I remember being in bed one night and it just came to me and I thought ‘Oh that would be a cool name’.
“Then I was like ‘Why don’t I just DM her? What have I got to lose? She’s probably never going to see it but I think it’s a cool idea so why not slide into her DMs?’
“It’s something I’ve always spoken about with friends and laughed about ‘God imagine if she did see that’.”
LADbible has reached out to SKIMS for comment.