The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star finds herself in the middle of controversy after launching a collection of skin-tone colored control underwear she labels Kimono Solutionwear.
- Jun 27, 2019
AceShowbiz - Kim Kardashian is facing backlash from Japanese fans after choosing to call her new shapewear line Kimono.
The reality star revealed Kimono Solutionwear, a collection of skin-tone coloured control underwear in a post on Instagram on Tuesday, June 25, telling fans she was inspired to create her own shapewear after spending years cutting up Spanx to make her own styles.
"Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work,” Kim wrote. "I would always cut up my shapewear to make my own styles, and there have also been so many times I couldn't find a shapewear colour that blended with my skin tone so we needed a solution for all of this."
But many of Kim's followers criticised the star for choosing the name of a traditional Japanese garment for her line, with #KimOhNo quickly trending.
"I did not have my boobs flattened by 2 obaasan (grandmothers) so I wouldn't be showing ANY curves for you to name your SHAPEWEAR Kimono. The effing irony and disrespect! Stop appropriating cultures for your capitalistic gain!" one wrote, while another added, "Wow, @KimKardashian. Thanks for BUTCHERING Japanese culture!!! My culture is not your plaything. You don't have any respect for people who are not your family, do you? In the 15 yrs developing this project, couldn't you find a cultural advisor?"
Meanwhile, Japanese woman Yuka Ohishi added to the BBC, "We wear kimonos to celebrate health, growth of children, engagements, marriages, graduations, at funerals. It's celebratory wear and passed on in families through the generations. This shapewear doesn't even resemble a kimono - she just chose a word that has Kim in it - there's no respect to what the garment actually means in our culture."
Kim has yet to respond to the criticism.
