Skims

Skims was launched in 2019 by Kim Kardashian, initially as a shapewear brand designed to address a specific frustration with the existing shapewear market: the available options were limited in the shade range they offered, particularly for darker skin tones, and the construction often produced visible lines or discomfort that made shapewear an unwilling compromise rather than a product the wearer was happy to use. The brand launched with nine shades, which was at the time a significantly broader range than the industry standard, and expanded the shade range as the brand’s production infrastructure developed.

The Georgetown store at 3300 M Street NW opened as part of Skims’ expansion into brick-and-mortar retail from the direct-to-consumer online model the brand launched with. Physical retail for a shapewear and underwear brand serves a specific function that online shopping cannot: the fit and coverage of underwear and shapewear are the most difficult product characteristics to assess from photography and online sizing guides, and the ability to try pieces before buying removes the primary friction in the online purchase of intimates.

The product range at Skims has expanded well beyond the original shapewear focus. The Fits Everybody underwear and bra collection, which uses a four-way stretch fabric that the brand developed specifically for the range, has become one of the brand’s primary growth drivers. The lounge and sleep collections, which extend the soft and stretch-fabric approach into casual and sleep clothing, created a category in the brand that the shapewear origin did not anticipate but that the existing customer found naturally adjacent. The Cotton Collection and the Soft Lounge categories in particular have developed their own loyal customer bases.

The scale at which Skims has grown, reaching a valuation of multiple billions of dollars within its first five years, reflects both the genuine product performance and the marketing power of the founder’s platform. For the Georgetown customer who wants to try Skims pieces without the wait of online shipping and the inconvenience of returns, the M Street store is the practical starting point.

Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday, with Friday and Saturday extending to 9pm. The website at skims.com provides the full range including the limited edition drops that the store may not carry. The Skims maternity collection, which the brand launched to address the specific shapewear and lounge needs of pregnant and postpartum customers, extended the product range into a category that many women find underserved by existing options. The Men’s collection, launched more recently, extends the Skims logic of comfortable, well-fitting basics to men’s underwear and loungewear. For the Georgetown customer who wants to try Skims without the return shipping process, the M Street store provides the fitting room that the online model requires as a complement. The store is open from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday, with Friday and Saturday extending to 9pm.