USC freshman Madeleine Frieman was getting brunch in West Hollywood on Saturday when she walked past the new Skims flagship store.
It had not been advertised on social media yet, so Frieman was caught completely off guard. As someone who already owns a lot of Skims products, she had to check it out.
Skims, a highly popular shapewear and clothing brand founded in part by Kim Kardashian, is opening its first flagship store in Los Angeles — their second physical store in the country — at 8569 W Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood.
To celebrate the opening, the company also announced the “Skims Drive-In” that will be open next door at Mel’s Drive-In, a historic diner. The collaboration will be held from April 2-6 and will feature an exclusive Skims menu. According to a post on the Mel’s Drive-In Instagram account, reservations for the Skims Drive-In are fully booked, but they will be taking walk-ins.
Although Skims officially announced the store’s opening on Tuesday, Frieman had already been in the store. She said that she had not heard anything about the store because the brand hadn’t started promoting it on social media accounts.
She added that there were not many people in the store, which she described as “really nice and aesthetic-looking.”
While trying on one of Skims’ highly popular bodysuits, Frieman said the employee was “staying with me the whole time, bringing me different things and hyping me up.”
Although she was lucky to come across the store before it launched, Frieman is just one of many Trojans who love Skims.
Madeline Toranto, a freshman in aerospace engineering, said she has been wearing Skims “basically since it’s existed.”
She described herself as “an avid Skims-wearer,” and estimates that she wears Skims every other day. She added that there are a lot of Skims fans at USC.
Although she prefers online shopping, Toronto acknowledged that the new store “looks cool.”
Brendan Zbanek, a sophomore studying communications, is another Trojan who loves Skims.
He said he first saw the news about the flagship store on TikTok and said it looked “really cool.”
Zbanek is planning to go to the store with his friends this weekend. He said the store is “in a cute area of L.A. … so we’ll make a fun day out of it.”
He said he wants to personally feel the clothes and “make sure that the materials are good, especially for their men’s socks, underwear and hoodies.”
Sohana Sahu, a freshman studying business, wears Skims constantly.
“It’s definitely my next shopping trip,” adding that she’s “more of an in-person shopper.”
Sahu said she likes the versatility of Skims, which she wears to a variety of occasions. She said “I can wear [their bodysuits] to go out. But then I also have their regular skin-tight tops, which I wear to class.”
Zbanek is looking forward to the store, even though he said, “it’ll probably make me buy more things, not gonna lie.”
Laughing, Zbanek said, “Thanks, Kim Kardashian.”