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Skims is making good on its promise to expand its brick-and-mortar presence. This time with its first flagship store in Chicago.
Kaarin Moore/Retail Dive
The company completed a $225 million funding round at the end of 2025, valuing it at $5 billion, with the goal of using the proceeds to accelerate its physical locations and focus on category expansion.
Its latest store landed in a former 1960s bank. The 6,500-square-foot, two-floor space is in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, which boasts retailers like Christian Louboutin, Harry Winston and Prada.
The store features women’s and men’s products across a number of categories, including underwear, shapewear and loungewear, and currently offers a seasonal Valentine’s Day assortment with loungewear sets and slippers, among other products.
Valentine’s Day merchandising at the Skims flagship in Chicago
Kaarin Moore/Retail Dive
The Chicago flagship is a way for Skims to showcase its full collection while “delivering exclusive in-store offers and creating memorable experiences for our customers,” co-founder and CEO Jens Grede said in a statement.
Customers can virtually queue for the dressing room line by scanning a QR code and can shop merchandise exclusive to the Chicago flagship. The store will also carry limited-edition drops, including NikeSkims, throughout the year.
Kaarin Moore/Retail Dive
“Chicago boasts such incredible style and a vibrant community, and opening our first flagship here feels incredibly meaningful,” Kim Kardashian, Skims co-founder and chief creative officer, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to introduce Skims to the city, inviting the community into a space that pays homage to Chicago’s storied architectural heritage while highlighting our signature design language, immersive experiences, and the complete assortment in person.”
Skims’ first permanent location opened less than two years ago in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The brand has a host of permanent stores now, including flagship locations in Los Angeles and New York, and an international presence in Mexico and Dubai, with plans to add retail locations in key markets this year.
Outside of brick-and-mortar development, the company launched into men’s in 2023 and introduced its joint venture with Nike last fall.
Coty sold its 20% stake in beauty brand Sknn by Kim to Skims last year, with Skims consolidating its beauty and lifestyle ventures under one brand.
“My mission has always been to create products that resonate deeply — whether it’s shapewear and lingerie that empowers or make-up and skincare that transforms,” Kardashian said in a statement at the time. “Uniting everything under the Skims brand streamlines that vision.”