Kim Kardashian West is taking on the shapewear and intimates industry with her new launch—and people are pissed. Not so much at the products themselves which accommodate a wide range of sizes and skin tones, but at the name of the company: Kimono Body.
https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1143505431391854594
No stranger to cultural appropriation (Fulani braids, accusations of blackface—you name it), West is setting her sights on the Far East this time by glomming onto the traditional Japanese garment for the sake of a bad name pun (“Kim” checks out but where does the “ono” fit in here?)
According to the trademark filing, Kimono Body’s goods and services may include everything from nipple cover pasties and rompers to whips and, yes, actual kimonos.
Suffice it to say, Twitter flamed West as, I’m sure, she fully expected them to:
Nice underwear, but as a Japanese woman who loves to wear our traditional dress,👘 kimono, I find the naming of your products baffling (since it has no resemblance to kimono), if not outright culturally offensive, especially if it’s merely a word play on your name. Pls reconsider
— Yuko Kato (@yukokato1701) June 26, 2019
One is KIMONO. One is Kim shamelessly selling a line of shapewear. Which y’all don’t need. #kimono pic.twitter.com/RC3vuA4dd1
— Tamlyn Tomita (@thetamlyntomita) June 25, 2019
One Twitter user even suggest a couple of names that, honestly, sound way better and would’ve caused far less of a stir, including Kimetic (Kim + Kinetic) or Kimotion (Kim + Motion).
However, a stir is what West surely wanted in the first place.
https://twitter.com/mumofsoulnwhim/status/1143625821073993728
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