Kylie Jenner has become something of a serial entrepreneur, synonymous with a variety of self-named businesses, to varying degrees of success.
As Fashionista reports, Kendall + Kylie, the tween-friendly casual clothing line she started with sister Kendall has been kicking in malls and via Amazon since 2013. Then in 2015, she founded Kylie Cosmetics, a brand that has since granted her a top seat at the beauty industry table — which she sold to Coty in 2019 at a staggering $1.2 billion valuation.
Then in 2021 she introduced Kylie Swim with much ballyhoo in the fashion world. But once the product finally fell into customers’ hands, public opinion changed quickly. Many took to TikTok to complain about the quality of the materials and manufacturing, claiming that their suits were see-through, the seams were unraveling and, perhaps most notably, the piece meant to cover the wearer’s…parts…was only useful for someone with the anatomy of a Barbie doll.
At the time, Jenner addressed only the transparency issue of the suits, saying in a since-deleted post on TikTok, “I am completely and totally disappointed that this is completely see-through. I’ve seen behind the scenes what it takes to produce swimwear, and the fact that no one caught this blows my mind.”
About a year after it launched, the Kylie Swim Instagram account stopped posting, and eventually wiped its grid completely. Soon thereafter, a user on the Kardashian/Jenner subreddit (r/KUWTK) posted documents allegedly showing that the Kylie Swim trademark had been abandoned.
It seems, though, that Jenner hasn’t given up on swimwear completely: Last week, the 26-year-old announced she was giving it another go, this time under the umbrella of her latest fashion project, Khy.
Khy debuted in November 2023 (just over two years since Kylie Swim quietly shuttered) in partnership with Jens and Emma Grede, who work on other Kardashian businesses, such as Skims and Good American (which both also produce swimwear). It’s set up to drop affordably-priced capsules from both an in-house team and designer partners, like Namilia and Natasha Zinko, in sizes XXS through 4X.
On July 11, the brand introduced Drop 008, labeled the “Vacation Shop.” In a press release, Jenner said: “We took our time perfecting this collection because, as with anything we launch at Khy, the design, quality, fabric and fit are all super important to me. For the swim, we created looks and options for different style and coverage preferences. I wanted to make sure we were catering to everyone.” Each item within the 28-piece offering is priced between $34 and $88 — similar price points to Kylie Swim, which ranged from $40 to $85.
“This is the vacation wardrobe of my dreams and I’m so excited to finally share it with everyone,” said Jenner. “For the cover ups, it was important to me that these styles complemented the swim because whenever I’m on vacation or at the beach, what I’m wearing over my swimsuit is basically my whole look for the day.”
Technically, this is Jenner’s fourth overall attempt at swimwear. Back in 2016, she and her supermodel sister created some pieces as part of a 37-piece collection with Topshop. The following year, the famous siblings, through Kendall + Kylie, partnered with Revolve on a swim capsule.
This time around, rather than focus on trendy patterns and impractical cutouts (as was the case with Kylie Swim), Khy’s swimwear is focused on wardrobe-building basics, with classic styles like triangle bikinis, ruched string bottoms, boyshorts and criss-cross one-pieces in a variety of neutral tones — plus red and orange options for a more vibrant summer look.
Only time will tell if the second (technically fourth?) time’s the charm for Jenner’s swimsuit success. Khy’s “Vacation Shop,” a.k.a. Drop 008 is available now at khy.com .
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