Kylie Swim Is No More, And SKKN Appears To Be a Flop
Plus, Danielle Bernstein got flamed.
It’s been an interesting week for Kylie Jenner.
First, she got quite the internet lashing for posting herself posing with Travis Scott in front of their private jets with the caption, “mine or yours?” while simultaneously getting exposed for hopping on hers for flights as short as 17 minutes (by Twitter tracking account @CelebJets). She was quickly dubbed a climate criminal Klimate Kriminal, and I’m not even going to get into the fact that it appears she’s desperately trying to help rehab Scott’s image after the Astroworld tragedy of 2021. (Stop trying to make “family man Travis Scott” happen. It’s not going to happen.)
As it turns out, Jenner’s not even in the top 10 of biggest celebrity climate criminals: Those titles belong to Taylor Swift, Floyd Mayweather, Jay Z, Alex Rodriguez, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg, her sister Kim Kardashian, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah, and her mans Travis Scott, respectively. Swift, in particular, has allegedly racked up 170 flights on her private jet since January, and at least 8,293 tons of carbon emissions. (For comparison’s sake: The average carbon footprint per person is around 7 tons per year.)
While Swift surely deserves backlash for this, Kylie’s set herself up for failure by flaunting her wealth and fleet of aircrafts far more explicitly than anyone else on this list. We know the Kardashian-Jenner klan thrive on negative PR—and social-media voyeurism surrounding their ultra-lavish lifestyles—but how do they plan to market their businesses when they’ve made themselves so utterly detestable, especially during a time of unprecedented social strife and economic distress?
Personally, I think the proof is in the pudding. This week, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians subreddit (r/KUWTK) dug up documents proving that Jenner’s swim brand that launched in 2021, Kylie Swim, is no more. The trademark is “dead in the water,” and the brand hasn’t posted on Instagram since June 1.
Anyone who paid attention to the brand’s original launch could’ve potentially seen this coming. TikTok was rife with bad reviews, including complaints about cheap, flimsy material, see-through fabric, and silhouettes designed exclusively for labia-less Barbie dolls. While some predicted the poorly reviewed launch was all a ~brilliant~ marketing ploy from the sick and twisted mind of Kris Jenner—designed to drum up press—it didn’t work. At all. The brand was poorly thought out, poorly executed, and, now, is a certified failure.
I think it also speaks to the fact that Jenner clearly doesn’t have the chokehold on the fashion and beauty space that she once did. Everyone remembers when Kylie Cosmetics first launched during Jenner’s peak “King Kylie” era, and the brand’s signature “lip kits” sold out in minutes, over and over again. Again, the products didn’t receive rave reviews: Jenner’s hype and ubiquity at the time may have drawn consumers into the product, but the quality didn’t encourage them to come back for more. Now, you can stock up on their products whenever you want… but it doesn’t seem many people want to.
A recent PR email I received declared Kylie Cosmetics “the most popular celebrity beauty brand”—solely based on followers and press mentions alone. And followers don’t always equate to sales.
While I have no numbers to prove this, I think it’s safe to assume that Kylie Skin and Kylie Baby, similarly, are struggling to find their footing among women who prefer quality over branding for things they slather on themselves (and their babies). If the quality of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Swim has appeared to be shoddy, why would anyone trust Jenner’s other products to be any different? Korners have klearly been kut across the board.
Again: Thriving on negative press has worked for the family in the past, but not when they’re trying to sell products to the masses—specifically during an almost-recession, and especially when said products are very clearly lacking in quality. The private jet fiasco is just another chapter in a long line of Kardashian kontroversies that, frankly, turn people off from further lining the family’s shoe-pant pockets.
Kylie’s flailing brands prove that the Kardashian-Jenner name not only no longer has selling power, but may actually be a deterrent to consumers. And understandably so.
…And That Brings Me to SKKN By Kim
The buzz around Kim Kardashian’s overpriced skincare line, SKKN, has all but died out—and now, it appears undeniable that the launch isn’t hitting like it may have had it launched a few years ago.
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