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Kim Kardashian's latest SKIMS creation hailed as 'groundbreaking' by breast cancer survivors
Content warning: This article discusses sensitive topics related to cancer, mastectomy, and body image issues, and contains language that readers may find crude. Reader discretion is advised.
An unfortunate reality for many breast cancer patients and survivors is the struggle to regain feelings of self-love and confidence after undergoing a mastectomy.
And while Kim Kardashian has had a few controversial issues over the years she’s been active in the entertainment industry, her new announcement about her brand SKIMS was met with positive reactions.
She said she was launching a new design—a bra with built-in nipples!
For breast cancer patients and survivors, this bra could not have come at a better time.
The SKIMS Ultimate Nipple Push-up Bra is the ‘augmentation’ of her design the Ultimate Bra, but with a built-in nipple for a ‘perky, braless look’ sold for $120 ($62 USD).
‘The earth’s temperature is getting hotter and hotter. Sea levels are rising. The ice sheets are shrinking. I’m no scientist, but I believe everyone can use their skill set to do their part,’ Kim Kardashian said in her promotional video.
The Nipple Push-up Bra initially received divided reactions from people. Kardashian’s tongue-in-cheek explanation in the video caused quite a stir among people, with some considering it tactless. Others said that the bra was a ‘regressive and tasteless play for the male gaze’ and detrimental to feminism.
Kim Kardashian announced her new Ultimate Nipple Push-up Bra. Credit: SKIMS
However, breast cancer patients and survivors see this bra as a cost-effective and potentially life-changing solution.
Philecia La’Bounty, a 36-year-old American woman battling breast cancer for the second time, was pleased when the bra launched. 'I have stage 4 breast cancer, mastectomy last May. Reconstruction in January.’ she said.
La’Bounty also said it was an ‘affordable, painless, easy’ way to replace what she lost during her mastectomy.
‘The PTSD from having your body mutilated from cancer is traumatic and not a choice for many people,’ she said.
‘You’re not just taking away the aesthetics. You’re taking your intimacy; your ability to feed your child; your ability to feel sensations,’ she added.
La’Bounty had a double mastectomy in May, leaving her with no breasts and nipples. She said she opted out of a nipple reconstruction surgery.
‘I’m really excited to try this bra on and look the way that I did before cancer forced me to take my breasts away,’ she continued.
‘I’m excited to see how that will make me feel, and maybe I’ll put on a little outfit for my partner. I just want that “wow” moment back.’
Similarly, Australian women’s health advocate Krystal Barter expressed her approval of the bra.
‘A huge percentage of women make life-changing and saving decisions every day because they’re facing the threat of not only cancer, but a risk of cancer,’ Barter said.
‘It changes their body and how they feel about it, and it’s directly tied to our breasts and our nipples and our identity. If the bra helps people, I think that’s a really powerful thing,’ she added.
Barter had the cancer-linked BRCA1 gene and underwent a preventive mastectomy at 25 years old.
‘Every day I miss my breasts and my nipples and everything that it looked like,’ she said.
‘[The bra] has the potential to be useful or powerful for some women who have found it to be a really difficult process to go through, which it is.’
32-year-old Shenae Curry Craig-–who is currently dealing with Stage 2 breast cancer-–expressed similar sentiments over the garment, and she got emotional when he first saw the advertisement.
‘This was groundbreaking, and I got emotional. I’ve been silently struggling with my body image since my diagnosis last year,’ she said.
‘Through biopsies and chemotherapy, [my breasts] started to look different, and now, after a double mastectomy, they are completely different…I cried for days without telling anyone. It’s not about anyone seeing them, it’s psychological.’
Watch the promotional video below:
Breast cancer affects over 20,000 Aussies alone every year. Around 30 to 40 per cent face a mastectomy, and 15 per cent later have to undergo breast reconstruction.
Check out this story where a woman was buying a new bra from an op shop. As she started to regret the purchase, her bra ‘wasn’t fitting right’ turned out to be a shocking diagnosis! Read more about it here.
You may still get the SKIMS Ultimate Nipple Push-Up Bra on their website. It is available in various colours for $120 ($62 USD).
What do you think of Kim Kardashian’s latest launch? Let us know in the comments below!
Will be glad to see the end of 2023. (My mum died in Canada earlier 
