Kim Kardashian on What She’s Teaching Her Daughters North and Chicago About Body Confidence

From ELLE

Kim Kardashian took her 15-year obsession with shapewear, and—because she's Kim Kardashian—turned it into a business determined to differentiate itself from your typical spanx. Kardashian spoke to ELLE.com about her line SKIMS and how she's teaching her daughters North and Chicago body confidence.

SKIMS comes out today, with pieces that include midi shorts, bodysuits, one-legged bottoms literally designed for high-leg slit dresses, and bras.

"I really created everything that I hadn't seen before," Kardashian told ELLE.com ahead of SKIMS’ launch earlier this summer, mentioning she used to personally cut up old shapewear she’d buy so it’d work with her outfits. "A big huge problem for me was seams. I would put on something, and it would have a seam up the front. And you'd wear something tight, and so you'd always see the line going up the front, and it would look just like underwear. I wanted to make sure that they [SKIMS' pieces] were really seamless, and they just felt really comfortable."

Kardashian took her time researching the right fabrics (the material they settled on is "extremely soft and extremely cozy," Kardashian said) and having many people, including herself, test the pieces.

"Honestly, I was even making changes in our campaign," Kardashian said of how long she was tweaking the product. "It had been six and eight months of getting samples and retesting them and reshaping them. And it had been a long time just because I would want to see each piece, every size that we make, starting in an XXS, going up to a 4XL and some pieces in a 5XL."

Between SKIMS and Kardashian’s headline-making KKW Beauty body foundation from earlier this summer, Kardashian has created products that work as tools for women to literally touch themselves up, no photo editing app required.

And personally at home, Kardashian tries to be a good model of body confidence to her two young daughters North, 6, and Chicago, 1, as she navigates life in the public eye with her family.

"I think my kids are a little too young to really understand what cellulite is and have those conversations," Kardashian told ELLE.com. "But they also see that we're in front of the camera, and I like to feel good about myself, and there's a time and a place. It's not like I sit home with body makeup all over me, but I do feel really confident. I mean, everyone pretty much wears a bra, so I'm always wearing the bra and the brief just around the house. And when I'm changing she'll be in my closet with me, one of my daughters. I mean, she's [North] the most confident person on the planet. So I don't think I'll really have a problem there, but I always teach body confidence and always wanting to feel your best."

That goes beyond what Kardashian wears, the reality star added. "I think my kids see me get up and go to the gym everyday and work out, and I remember I would see my mom be active and play tennis and sports, and I love that my kids see me ski and water ski, and [be] really active. And then we really openly talk about what we put in our bodies and the foods that we eat and not eating too much sugar. I think it all goes together and when you're not confident it's not just like, ‘Oh well, put on some solution wear and you're all fixed.’ No, if there's something, I always use it as motivation. If I'm feeling a little bit heavier than usual or if I just, even if it has nothing to do with weight, eating really clean and teaching my kids, that has been really important to me, and I've learned that. And so when we're at the house, we eat plant-based and that's been a real fun journey for me, to just change the way that I eat when I'm at home."

Kardashian’s second SKIMS collection will feature many more bras, which she's is excited about. Like with her first collection, "it's all about the materials and things that I haven't ever really felt before. I think it's just really important to make sure that it [SKIMS' bra] fits so many different sizes, because I know what I like, but I really wanted everyone to like it or find something that they would wear, whether it's a triangle bra or something with a little bit more padding. Just because I don't wear a lot of padding doesn't mean that people don't want that. So I wanted everything to shape well and just to feel really good."

You can shop Kardashian’s SKIMS line here.

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