AOC is a big fan of Kim Kardashian, but on occasion I feel that this uber-talented woman is trying needlessly hard with SKIMS and her entire online persona.

Today is NOT one of those days. And not all creative talent is created equal.

SKIMS [IG] has pulled out all the stops in the new swimwear campaign shot by British fashion photographer Nick Knight [IG] founder and director of SHOWstudio.com. Knight is joined by stylist Carine Roitfeld [IG] the former EIC of Vogue Paris, founder of CR Fashion Book and its consulting agency.

WWD referred to Carine simply as an ELLE stylist, prompting AOC to investigate the writer’s own experience — or lack of it. We will be sure to highlight the bio of one of the most important women in the fashion industry for our young people, who don’t dig deeply.

Nick Knight and Carine Roitfeld together are as good as it gets, and we see the very visible results in these images.

Knight was the creative force behind the shoot, tasked with capturing the collection “in a style reminiscent of his classic and avant-garde fashion campaigns from the 2000s,” according to a press release from the brand.

AOC also raved about the Steven Klein ‘swimweat manifesto’ featuring Kim in the SKIMS June 2023 campaign. But the photography is very different in the two projects.

Klein’s images always empower women as strong, Amazonian, in-charge creatures. There is a celluloid quality to the sexy, superficial images that Klein is known for. We don’t have a sense of the inner-self of Klein’s famous people, who include Madonna.

These Nick Knight images of Kim Kardashian are very different. There’s no dominatrix undercurrent, unlike the Steven Klein campaign. They are up close and intimate in documenting Kim’s deep sensuality.

Not that many women truly own their own bodies [especially in today’s world] but Kardashian is an exception. And she is a great mother of four kids and a superb businesswoman. Her work in prisons is also exemplary. We don’t have time to sit around waiting for Kim Kardashian to make a mistake. Her excellence totally overshadows her occasional slip-ups. [AOC wrote recently about Kim’s relationship with Swifties. She needs to clean that up.]

As one commenter wrote on Kim’s IG about the new campaign: “OH MOTHER, MOTHER.” AOC agrees. Another said “She’s trying too hard” — which is a fair comment about Kim, one I lead with above. Note that many of those women are very jealous of Kim Kardashian.

I would have to review her portfolio in total, but in AOC’s opinion, these Nick Knight images of Kim may be the most intimate and beautiful images ever of the superwoman.

No one is a better advocate for her own brands than Kim Kardashian. SKIMS was built with such enormous vision and talent by Kim and her partners CEO Jens Grede and his wife Emma.

These images remind us that SKIMS is a fashion rocket ship, and its founder Kim Kardashian is ready for takeoff. Bravo, Kim. ~ Anne