Yahoo Sports Kim Kardashian West Responded to Backlash About SKIMS’ Maternity Collection
Kim Kardashian West Responded to Backlash About SKIMS’ Maternity Collection
Jameela Jamil wrote an Instagram post criticizing pregnancy shapewear in general.
Kim Kardashian West is defending her shapewear brand’s new maternity line, following backlash against the forthcoming SKIMS collection from critics ‘round the internet. One of those critics seemed to include Jameela Jamil, who wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday, September 13th, that “I wish we could just Normalize just focusing on the inside of a pregnant body, not the outside.”
The same day, Kardashian West took to Twitter to clarify the purpose of the shapewear line—which she said is not intended to mold, mask, or otherwise reshape a pregnant person’s body at all.
“To anyone who has an issue with maternity solutionwear, and if you haven’t been pregnant before you may not know the struggle of what it’s like carrying all of this weight the way I did along with millions of strong women, @skims maternity line is not to slim but to support,” Kardashian West wrote of the collection, which will be available on Wednesday, September 16th.
“The belly part doesn’t slim your belly, it’s actually sheer and a thinner layered material compared to the rest of the garment," she added.
"It provides support to help with the uncomfortable weight being carried in your stomach which affects your lower back."
To anyone who has an issue with maternity solutionwear, and if you haven’t been pregnant before you may not know the struggle of what it’s like carrying all of this weight the way I did along with millions of strong women, @skims maternity line is not to slim but to support.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) September 13, 2020
She added that the compression leggings can help relieve some of the pain caused by swelling during pregnancy, though women can also wear the line after they’ve given birth “to provide comfort and support...especially if you are recovering from a caesarean.”
SKIMS launched the line “in response to the tens of thousands of pregnant women who wrote us requesting it and because it was something I personally needed when I was pregnant myself,” Kardashian West said. “Based on the majority of positive feedback we have received so far from pregnant women around the world, I am incredibly proud to provide a solution that will provide comfort and support during the times that we all need it most, during pregnancy and after.”
We launched this category in response to the tens of thousands of pregnant women who wrote us requesting it and because it was something I personally needed when I was pregnant myself.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) September 13, 2020
Chrissy Teigen is among the “pregnant women around the world” who are happy with SKIMS’ five-piece maternity collection, which includes garments like a “nursing sculpting bra” and a mid-thigh compression bodysuit.
On Sunday, “actual pregnant person” Teigen posted on her Instagram Stories explaining “a little bit about what pregnancy shapewear is.”
“When you're pregnant and you're sitting down a lot, or on bed rest like me, you tend to just sit there, and if you're wearing regular, basic-ass underwear, all it does is roll inside of folds I didn't even know I had!" Teigen said, according to Entertainment Tonight, modeling a piece from SKIMS’ maternity line. "'Most importantly this is not about creating a body we don't know we have. Like, we're not trying to do anything to trick you, we're pregnant."
In Jamil’s original Instagram post, she urged pregnant people not to feel the need to “correct or hide” their shape, adding that “pregnancy is hard enough, with enough worries already.”
“If I ever have a baby I’m welcoming the stretch marks, the new curves and I’m sure as shit not gonna rush to try and snap back, I’m just gonna let my body heal from the Massive event that has occurred inside my body,” she wrote.
However, Jamil’s post was not specifically in response to SKIMS’ shapewear line, but the “talk around the internet about pregnancy shapewear” in general—which she clarified in yet another Instagram post earlier today, along with a screenshot of a BuzzFeed article implying that Jamil was calling out Kardashian West in particular.
A post shared by Jameela Jamil (@jameelajamilofficial) on Sep 14, 2020 at 4:48am PDT
“From what I understand her product is safe,” Jamil wrote. “But there is definitely a huge societal problem with the way pregnant people feel they have to look while making a baby.”
“Bored of my name being used to drag me into shit that I’m not trying to be involved in. If I was calling her out, I would just call her out, I’ve hardly been shy about it in the past,” she added. True!
Bottom line: Let’s all agree to stop policing pregnant bodies.
