The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2019
Kim Kardashian trademarked 'Kimono' for shapewear — the mayor of Kyoto wrote back
Kim Kardashian named her shapewear line 'Kimono' — a pun on her name. #KimOhNo went viral. Kyoto's mayor asked her to drop the trademark. She rebranded.
KKW Holdings (Skims)
What happened
In June 2019, Kim Kardashian announced a new shapewear line called 'Kimono' — a pun on her first name, Kim. The brand offered skin-tone bodysuits and shapewear. Kardashian filed trademarks for the name in multiple categories.
The backlash was immediate. The hashtag #KimOhNo went viral. Yuka Ohishi, a Japanese-American videographer, wrote: 'Our traditional garment is not spandex. It is not a beach cover up. It is not something you should use to make a cute pun with your name and slap on a trademark.' Critics accused Kardashian of cultural appropriation — taking the name of Japan's most iconic garment for a commercial product that had no connection to Japanese culture.
On June 28, 2019, Daisaku Kadokawa, the mayor of Kyoto, sent an open letter to Kardashian asking her to drop the trademark. He wrote that kimono is 'a traditional ethnic dress fostered in our rich nature and history' and that 'the names for kimono are the asset shared with all humanity.' His staff was working to register kimono culture on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list. On July 1, Kardashian announced she would rename the brand. It launched as Skims.
Why it happened
- The pun was the problem: 'Kimono' is not a word available for trademarking — it is the name of a country's cultural heritage, and a pun does not change that.
- The trademark was the escalation: naming the brand was tone-deaf; filing legal claims to the word turned tone-deafness into appropriation.
- The mayor's letter was unprecedented: the head of a city writing to a celebrity to protect a cultural asset elevated the issue from social media outrage to diplomatic correspondence.
- The rebrand was inevitable but costly: Kardashian abandoned the trademark and relaunched as Skims — the pivot was correct but the brand identity had to be rebuilt from zero.
The lesson
Trademarking a culture's most iconic garment as a pun on your first name is not creativity. The trademark office may accept it; the culture will not.
Sources
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