An unlikely brand has joined the roster of NBA sponsors. Skims, the shapewear company co-founded by Kim Kardashian that has skyrocketed to popularity in its four-year existence, is now the official underwear of the NBA.

The deal follows the debut of the brand’s first menswear line last week. The three-year pact includes the WNBA and USA Basketball. In addition, the NBA is considering taking an equity stake in Skims.

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“It was a natural fit,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview. “Kim is one of the world’s greatest marketers and has a long history with the NBA,” referring to her frequent courtside attendance at games. “That’s important because she and her family understand the league and what interests our players—how they like to dress and how they like to feel when they dress.”

The new line of men’s garments includes underwear, T-shirts and leggings in cotton, stretch and “sport” iterations—which will put it in competition with Under Armour, Nike and other sportswear brands that sell athletic base layers.

A campaign called “Every body is wearing Skims” is supporting the collection, fronted by athletes including Brazilian soccer player Neymar, San Francisco 49er Nick Bosa and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, is already in circulation with ads running on social media.

Growing in mainstream appeal

The NBA deal cements Skims’ standing as a fast-growing apparel brand that is catapulting to mainstream awareness with consumers. Kardashian first launched the company in 2019 when she noticed a dearth in the shades of shapewear available in the market—nothing quite matched her own skin tone, and she was forced to cut and dye and sew her own versions of existing products. Other consumers likely had similar issues because Skims quickly took off; the Los Angeles-based venture is now valued at $4 billion.

Earlier this year, the company raised $270 million in a Series C funding round led by Wellington Management. The new money is expected to fund Skims’ new product offerings and also help with its in-person expansion efforts. The terms of the NBA's new investment were not disclosed.

Skims, which hosted a pop-up shop in New York over the summer, is planning to open its own brick-and-mortar flagship in Los Angeles in 2024 and already sells at certain Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue locations in addition to online.

Kardashian, who works as Skims’ creative director, in an interview said the brand “has grown so much and to launch men’s in this big way and with this big partnership will be really important for our brand. To be able to partner with, to me, the all-time ultimate company in the world, the NBA, and knowing they see our vision to have the official undergarments, is magical and a dream come true.”

The deal took roughly six months to come to fruition following Skims’ initial outreach to the league. As the official underwear provider, Skims will show up in marquee events including the NBA and WNBA all-star games, the NBA In-Season Tournament and the USA Basketball domestic exhibition tour, according to the NBA. In addition, Skims will have on-court virtual signage during broadcasts and be included on the NBA’s social and digital accounts.

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Skims plans to make use of the partnership’s media opportunities, according to Jens Grede, its co-founder and CEO, who formerly founded Wednesday, the ad agency. He said that any creative marketing done to support the deal will all be done internally at Skims; however, the brand, which also works with Horizon on media duties, is also in talks with some outside creative agencies.

“Fans will see the partnership come to life,” he said, adding that “The NBA clearly has a platform. If you want to reach a critical mass of men in the U.S., there is no substitute in sports.”

NBA as a lifestyle brand

Indeed, the league’s sponsorship deals are in growth mode. Revenue from sponsorships grew 10.5%, or $100 million, to $1.4 billion during the 2022-2023 season, compared to the year prior, according to SponsorUnited, a research platform. The season included 2,430 new brand deals.

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The Skims deal is notable for its standing—the NBA has never had an official underwear before. But the league has dabbled in the space, as have its players. The NBA sells gear from undergarments brand Ethika on its online store via a licensing deal, including team-branded briefs, socks and thongs. In addition, Michael Jordan famously endorsed Hanes, an iconic relationship that lasted more than 30 years before it quietly dissolved earlier this year.

As the NBA cultivates its growing reputation as a source for fashion inspiration, new deals like the one with Skims will help it gain even more cultural relevance. Silver noted that many NBA players are fashion icons—fans closely follow what they wear on the courts as well as what they wear casually. Now, viewers might also care what they’re wearing underneath.

“The NBA brand at its core is basketball, but it’s also a lifestyle brand,” said Silver. “Friends in the fashion industry have told me that the distance the NBA players travel from bus to arena has become a modern-day runway for men’s fashion.”

For Skims, men’s underwear represents the next logical step as it grows its retail empire. According to a 2022 report from market research firm Mintel, the men’s underwear market in the U.S. will be between $6 billion and $7 billion by 2027. The women’s underwear market, where Skims is already well established, is estimated to have exceeded $13 billion in 2019 and is poised to reach $15 billion to $16 billion by 2027, according to Mintel.

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Men were already shopping Skims even before its foray into the division, Grede said, noting that 20% of Skims’ traffic comes from men and 10% of the brand’s customers are men. The menswear line will have prices ranging from $16 to $54 for single pieces and from $42 to $98 for packs.

“With men’s underwear, the male customer has been underserved for a long time,” he said. “Innovation in men’s performance apparel for sports hasn’t made its way to underwear at a price customers could accept.”

Yet Mintel’s report noted that while the underwear market is “poised for growth,” particularly from the influx of new direct-to-consumer players, there is still ample competition. For example, DTC brands such as Bonobos and MeUndies, which have men’s offerings, already resonate with both Gen Z and millennial male consumers.

Some 41% of men are open to changing between brands when they purchase underwear, said Katie Hansen, senior analyst of retail and e-commerce at Mintel. She said that Mintel has found that nearly one-third of men, or 31%, say the type of garment they wear can impact their mood, which suggests that brands can “infuse the feeling of confidence” into the wearing of their products. Function is also a key factor for men shopping for undergarments, she said.

“Skims’ neutral colors and comfortable fabrics make it an attractive option to shoppers,” added Hansen. “However, brands shouldn’t ignore fun as that is still a looming opportunity in the marketplace as a quarter of men are looking to purchase underwear based on the fun aspects of the item.”