Kim Kardashian Has Launched A Shapewear Line With An Unseemly Name
No Spanx you.
On Tuesday, Kim Kardashian offered a first look at her new shapewear line that boasts a pretty insensitive name — “Kimono Solutionwear.”
A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 25, 2019 at 6:00am PDT
“Finally I can share with you guys this project that I have been developing for the last year,” Kardashian wrote. “I’ve been passionate about this for 15 years. Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work.”
The name of the brand is clearly a play on the reality star’s first name. But naming a line of tight-fitting undergarments meant to control and shape people’s bodies after a loose-fitting silk robe that has held cultural significance in Japan since the late eighth century makes very little sense — especially since the 38-year-old entrepreneur is not Japanese herself.
People on Twitter expressed their confusion and accused Kardashian of cultural appropriation — much like the times she wore Fulani braids, sported an Indian headpiece and appeared to be in blackface.
Yeah, I see the pun, Kim, but appropriating the name of an ancient Japanese garment with an array of sacred associations for your butt 'n' belly flattening brand is just really...something
⚡️ “Kim Kardashian West launches new shapewear collection, Kimono”https://t.co/rGaOHppcZ0— Jeff Yang (@originalspin) June 25, 2019
Glad I’m not the only one who’s disgusted. Kimono shape wear 🤮🤮🤮 Rih would never. Bey would never. Anyone with a working brain would never. 🙃 https://t.co/Jk6145O6wV
— stylevoguette (@stylevoguette) June 25, 2019
why’s it called kimono if that’s a completely different style of clothing. I get that you’re incorporating your name but kimono is the name of a traditional (and cultural) japanese robe.
— glori🍋 (@needybratz) June 25, 2019
Kim Kardashian really trademarked the word kimono. So she owns a whole word that comes from Japanese culture to describe a specific garment and she just...did that. I’m literally so fucking sick of these people lol
— 💜sara💙 (@SaraJetlag) June 25, 2019
One is KIMONO. One is Kim shamelessly selling a line of shapewear. Which y’all don’t need. #kimono pic.twitter.com/RC3vuA4dd1
— Tamlyn Tomita (@thetamlyntomita) June 25, 2019
Absolutely tasteless and awful. You have ZERO respect to the Japanese culture, do you. What's wrong with you.
I'm from Japan. For us, Kimono represents the beauty & elegance of the country's tradition. Your spandex underwear brand has nothing to do with it. I'm offended.— TrinityNYC (@TrinityNYC) June 25, 2019
kimono, more like “Kim, oh no”
— kinga🐊 (@malechk_) June 25, 2019
Other people took offense to Kardashian’s claim in her post that her line will come in sizes ranging from XXS-4XL …
Introducing Kimono Solutionwear™ for every body. Coming Soon in sizes XXS - 4XL in 9 shades. @kimonobody #KimonoBody
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) June 25, 2019
... Yet no plus-sized models were featured in her photos.
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Where are the plus size models? 😭😭😭
— ℳ𝒾𝒸𝒽ℯ𝓁𝓁ℯ 𝒱𝒶𝓃 (@mimivanity) June 25, 2019
Cool, but if you’re selling up to a 4x it would have been nice to see your product on women up to that size in your promo shots. It’s hard to buy a product if you can’t see how well it works on different body types.
— jasmine (@halewestallen) June 25, 2019
Okay Kimberly are you actually going to have plus size models showing what a bigger body looks like in these or just continue to use toned and fit models who honestly don’t even need to wear shape wear? You have a good size range but come on girl. You know better.
— Garbage Queen (@garbagequeeen) June 25, 2019
Kardashian is not the first person to trademark the word “kimono.” According to The Los Angeles Times, it has been used twice before for software and “sheaths for pens.”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.