Here are some photos of Kim Kardashian out and about in New York for LaLa Anthony’s birthday celebrations this week. Jonathan Cheban was there too. No, I don’t know why, nor do I know why Kim Kardashian continues to look like a cartoon. I also don’t understand her outfit here – it’s not a simple little black dress on a warm day. She added a shiny black neck-brace/necklace and giant bracelet cuffs and all I can think about is “wow her neck must be really sweaty.”
As always, Kim Kardashian is causing controversy for a million different things. Controversy #1 was the season finale of KUWTK, wherein the Tristan Thompson-Jordyn Woods issue blew up. The sisters – Khloe, Kim, Kylie and Kourtney – got on the phone to hash it out and blame Jordyn for everything. Jordyn was always Kylie’s best friend, since they were little girls, and Jordyn’s career opportunities were always wrapped up in the Kardashians’ empire, especially Kylie’s business. Kim said to her sisters: “Kylie, she provides for her whole family off of what you have given her. And the disrespect of, just, like, she has to know that there’s a problem.” People took issue with Kim’s “white savior complex” and seemed especially disturbed that Kim would say that Jordyn supports her whole family from the Kardashians’ handouts, basically.
Controversy #2 is Kim’s latest business venture: she’s launching a collection of shapewear and underwear and honestly, the controversy should be that she’s infringing on Spanx’s trademark AND that she’s copying Kanye’s beige-underwear aesthetic. But the actual controversy is that Kim has named her underwear line “Kimono.” Not only that, she trademarked “Kimono Intimates Inc.” Japanese people and Japanese-Americans are like WTF, you can call your knockoff Spanx “Kimono,” kimonos are a real thing in Japanese culture and fashion. So much cultural appropriation, so little time.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Do her shapewear come with a plastic surgeon? Because her shape ain’t from spanx or corsets.
And, of course she named it kimono. A Kardashian not purposely appropriating another culture to make money is like a sky that isn’t blue. Ugh. Gross.
How is a lumpy cartoonEsque plastic filled body held up as some kind of standard for women to aspire to over say a normal human body? These Klowns are all about bragging rights and zero integrity.
Nope, don’t ask me, but there’ll be plenty who’ll buy that krappe.
To me, this is so obviously an attention grab, and I’m grossed out that, like Gucci and Prada, this worked.
But kimono begins with a K, also with Kim, so it’s kool y’all. Sadly Kim can’t see outside the K-shaped box which engulfs her mind. Klinggaunch, Kameltoe. Korsetashian.
And of course it’s deliberate on her part. It’s so gross and I’m loving the responses she’s been getting on twitter.
I’ve said from the beginning how savior-Ish it was for Jordyn to have been owned by the K family – as J lost her home reputation & income w one episode of Falling Out w the Kardashians. THIS was the only concerning aspect.
@FoundCat this is the Kardashian narrative and is not the truth about Jordyn’s life. Her parents were wealthy and well-connected too, hence how she’s known Will Smith and his family since she was a child, and she is a plus size model who had her agency (Wilheimina) seek HER out, unlike Kylie’s own failed attempts at modelling. She did a lot with Kylie but she isn’t helpless without her, that’s just how the K’s want to spin it to make Kylie look like her savior.
Someone will have made bank on suggesting a ‘brilliant’ name like kimono
She’s so gross, and to think she’s now the mother of four black children. Those poor babies are going to be so lost and confused.
Gross is right. Just complete trash.
I do worry about the West kids.
They have the worst parents.
I worry about all of the kids growing up in the K family. But a lot of people love to watch how they live, and they want to be like them. They are about money and looks, like lots of LA.
Don’t worry their nannies are great people…that’s who they spend the most time with anyways. It’s also funny how Kim says she’s “just so busy with studying for the bar” but yet she’s EVERYWHERE…plus a new born at home. Something does not add up !
I’m with you, ME. Something stinks here.
Forgert just a newborn she has a 6 year old, a 3 year old, a 1 year old, and a 1 month old. That’s a lot of responsibility.
She’s too busy getting surgeries, traveling for parties, and studying “so much”. Then there’s the actual work (photo shoots, time in makeup chair, Instagram posting, meetings with all of her ventures etc). I hope they have good nannies and at least North gets structure in school. Parents have to work, no shame. But I would cry leaving my babies, especially a few weeks old, to go across the country.
RIGHT!? I’m a mom of 3 and there’s the odd time when I get dolled up for a wedding or party, and I always feel guilty about it. I’m talking a full one hour and 1/2 from shower to out-the-door; this happens maybe twice a year. As I’m curling my hair, applying concealer to my bags, listening to my kids little voices and squeals from downstairs I think, “Vanity Insanity, go be with your babies!” Then I think of the Kardashians, who probably do this whole rigor moral EVERYDAY. How much time do they spend away from their babies just to get pap-ready groomed on the reg? Do they kiss their kiddos with those layers of gloss? Do they accept sloppy wet kisses on their overblushed cheeks, do they let little spaghetti sauced hands wrap around their duds? When I think about it, I feel a little sad for them and their babies for missing out on each other…and for what?
She is already setting up North to be the next JoJo.
I read this story today and almost blew a gasket.
This family keep on setting new lows when it comes to plumbing brand new levels of f*ckery, dumbassery. insensitivity, cheapness and crassness.
Also are they HIGH HEELED THONGS? Somebody please make it stop.
I haven’t heard anyone describe flip flops as thongs since about 1992. So, I immediately took your comment to mean underwear and pictured stiletto heels coming out of her giant arse. I had to scroll up again to see what I had missed! Haha
Oh here in the antipodes we call them thongs (and your thongs we call G strings – go figure ha ha)
We used to call them thongs when I was a kid, either that or zories.
The proper term is “slipper,” thank you very much.
Omg, I missed the thongs/flipflops, and wow are they bad!!
We called them thongs when I was growing up in Ohio in the 1980s. I feel like the thong underwear name came from thong the footwear, but I don’t know for sure. I stopped calling them thongs when I referred to my thongs once when I was talking to a male boss of mine and he got super embarrassed and didn’t know why I was talking about my underwear and it was just sort of awkward and weird, so I started using flipflop. I always felt like thong was the proper term and flipflop the nickname, but not so sure anymore!
Manda, I have almost the exact same story about the last tome I used the word “thongs” to describe flip flops. It was with a male boss and it made it look like I was trying to flirt with him (which he would have liked). Ugh. It was nearly 25 years ago and I’m still mortified by it!
Hey!! I grew up in NEO and still live here. I was just thinking that I didn’t know when thongs stopped being footwear and started being underwear. We always called them thongs growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s.
I’ve said thongs to my grandkiddos and they just looked at me confused.
In an outfit filled with trash, the high heel flip flops manage to be the worst.
My first thought too @TheTwinkle. Aaarghhhh High heeled thongs!?? But I’m an Aussie so same terminology lol.
That very specific smell from fake tanner must both be 1) very pungent and 2) follow the Kardashian-Jenners everywhere because they must use vats of the stuff to get that orange irl.
Kim is highly problematic, but Jordyn’s entire career came from being friends with Kylie, I don’t think this was white saviorism this time.
Jordyn’s family is pretty connected. She got lots of exposure being friends with Kylie but to suggest that Jordyn’s family was living off Kylie by extension is bullshit. So yeah, it was a dumb and false thing to say. And it doesn’t pass the smell test. It’s gross for a white woman ( in America Kim is considered white) to say that black woman needed to stay in whatever place her white friend felt comfortable with her in.
What do you mean she’s white in America? Is there somewhere she wouldn’t be?
Kim is white, not just considered white. Both her parents were white. She is white.
How well connected are they though? Do they have money problems? I recall a go fund me because they couldn’t afford medical bills / funeral costs after Jordyn’s dad died.
Erinn,
If you look back, Kylie benefited from Jordyn’s connection to Will Smith’s family. Remember when Kylie dated Jayden? It isn’t a surprise that when Jordyn told her side of things, it was on Jada Pinkett Smith’s show.
“Pinkett Smith, whose family has known Woods since she was a child thanks to Woods’ late father, John working as a sound engineer on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, said she wanted to give the 21-year-old “a platform to tell her story.”
““It actually wasn’t something I wanted to do because it was very close [to home],” Smith revealed to People. “But as time transpired, Jordyn was just like, ‘I really need you in this platform’ and Will [Smith] felt like it was supremely important. So I was like, OK let’s do it.”
This young lady is the “niece” of will Smith. I think she had the same privilege that Kylie did, rich people being around her. That comes with opportunities. If you are employed to do a job and you do it, no one gave you anything, you worked for that check. Why call Kylie with her connections a self made billionaire but Jordan and her connections she’s feeding her whole family with “ every thing you’ve given to her”.Please!
“If you are employed to do a job and you do it, no one gave you anything, you worked for that check.”
Yes!!
To me her comment made it seem like Jordyn was some poor girl who Kylie took in and supported her/her family.Jordyn met Kylie at school so therefore her family had money to be able to attend that school.Will Smith and his family or like family to Jordyn.Has being friends with Kylie opened some doors of course.Just like being screwed by Ray J on that sex tape opened some doors for Kim K and her family.Being friends with Paris Hilton ,her dad being friends with OJ,all those things opened doors.
Lastly IMO it’s shady AF to help your BFF and then when the friendship is over, your sister/family talks about everything you did for your BFF.I hope those twins that Khloe hangs around with pay attention.Because if their friendship ends,Kim will probably say the same thing about them.
I enjoy running over Karadashian Klan as much as the next person, but in this case I am not sure this is justified. Would have anyone know who this Jordyn person is if not for her connection to the Koven Klan? And imeven if she has connections and her family is well off I am sure in Kim’s as in any Kardashian’s mind everyone around them benefit from being close to them. I mean they do think that the whole universe revolves around their plastic world.
As other people have said, it’s not really as simple as that at all. His thread is surprisingly interesting – https://mobile.twitter.com/NotLaja/status/1143160388453842944
WHOA!!! Thank you. That was amazeballs.
That is a good read. When Kylie met Jordyn, Jordyn was the one with all the connections !
thank you, that is very revealing, and a nice trip down memory lane for Kylie’s Hot Topic phase! I think her face back then before lip injections and everything started was pretty. She looked so fresh-faced.
How is she having time to study being a lawyer with all the travelling she’s been doing lately? As far as the other two things – another day another controversy.
It’s so stupid to call it Kimono because a “kimono” is a thing that looks nothing like shaper lingerie. Obviously, this isn’t a true trademark issue, but way to cause confusion, Kimmy! Should have at least changed the spelling, or, I don’t know, come up with something original
How about Kim’s Kompression Klothes?
ha!!!! Literally just choked on my soda
I think she forgot some punctuation:
Kim, O No!
“Kim, o no!” Good one! 🤣🤣🤣
But like literally it has my name in it, like literally you guys!
Kim’s Ass Blasters.
I saw her announce Kimono on Twitter and the response was brutal, as it should have been. She basically stole a word and slapped it on something else to make it about herself. For the controversy. Because there is no way that she didn’t know this would be controversial.
Three years ago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which owns Monet’s painting of his wife in a kimono, made fake kimonos available for visitors to try on while viewing the painting, just to know what it felt like to wear such a garment. It sparked immediate protests and rallies and the debates over it raged on for over a year, long after the MFA stopped doing it. Her marketing department &lawyers would have researched the word. She did this to cause trouble.
I’m not super great at coming up with analogies, but it would be like if some restaurant decided to call their hamburgers hot dogs. That’s not what those are, you know? It just makes no sense
The thing is – it’s absolutely stupid. But I assume if she had stylized the word she could have trademarked that version of it without any real issues? Like KIMono or kimONO or whatever. It’d still be dumb, but I assume at least if she did something like that it’d be a less stupid attempt at trademark.
Which was hilarious because actual Japanese people didn’t care. A kimono is not a religious symbol or has some deep meaning to the Japanese people. It’s literal just a piece of clothing to them.
The Japanese consulate got involved in the MFA incident
Because people were protesting. But there were also counter protesters. I’ll repeat this, no one in Japan itself cared. Foreigners wearing kimonos is not a big deal there and they actually like it. But hey, ignore the person who lived in Japan for years and still has many mainland Japanese friends that I still talk to 🙄
On Twitter I saw a lot of people talking about the importance kimonos in their Japanese heritage. My friend who is Japanese American also discussed the importance. It’s interesting to hear a different perspective. This is the only place where I have heard that Japanese people don’t care.
Japanese AMERICAN. I guarantee your friend has not spent a significant time in Japan itself. I would love to hear about what the cultural significance is that’s shes claiming. Like I said, the Japanese people who live in Japan do not care.
Yeah, but calling a cheap knock-off kimono for tourists to wear, a “kimono” is one thing. Calling girdles for fat Americans to wear so that trashy family can make a buck, a “kimono,” is something else.
She’s Japanese American, but lives closely with her Japanese mother and grandmother.
If you want to learn more about what people of Japanese heritage are saying about the cultural significance, Pajiba has a collection of tweets where people described what it means to them and their family.
http://www.pajiba.com/celebrities_are_better_than_you/kim-kardashian-launches-body-makeup-and-shapewear-lines.php
@BabaBlacksheep it’s great that you lived in Japan but you don’t speak for all Japanese people.
@OriginalLala
Thank you. Can you imagine the arguments on here if we all said to take solely one person’s opinion?
I guess this is the Japanese version of “I have black friends. “ 😐
Yeah, I lived in Japan too and Japanese people do not care if others wear kimonos. They are happy with it because it shows the strength of their culture. When you go to Kyoto or Kamakura, or a multitude of other places, there are kimono rental stores absolutely everywhere and they dress all the tourists up in kimonos and do their hair and people walk around dressed like that. The Chinese tourists in particular absolutely love it. There is also a geisha theme park and a few historical parks where everyone dresses up as specific characters in Japanese history. There are beautiful kimono stores where they are happy to sell you kimonos – if you can afford them, because they cost thousands of dollars! Most people buy a yukata instead. The yukatas can be cheap and then there are yukatas in beautiful fabrics that are worth hundreds of dollars (I have one expensive one, a vintage one, and two cheap ones). There are vintage stores selling everything second hand too.
All of that said, Kim has trademarked an extraordinary number of things under the Kimono banner, including pet gear and I think sex gear and actual kimonos. So I think that, whilst Japanese people from Japan might not care about (and even encourage) westerners wearing kimonos, this is something else. This is insulting (never good in Japan). She had labelled ugly underwear as a proud Japanese cultural symbol, and she is also calling animal items and sex items kimonos AND she is trademarking kimonos themselves under her banner. That is rude, insulting and could have huge ramifications. The Japanese are going to be majorly angry over this one.
This is similar to when a US company trademarked Ugg boots (which come from Australia and NZ) and then said no one else could call them Uggs. There were huge court battles over that, and people here in Australia are still angry about it. Except that with the kimono and the Japanese culture this is much more egregious.
As for the MFA. I think that was ridiculous. No one in Japan would have cared. Nor would the Koreans – because they have traditional kimonos too. My Korean pattern making teacher brought her family kimonos in for us all try on and she loved that we were. The issue would have been either an assumption from white people (which is kinda paternalistic if you ask me) or it may have been led by Japanese Americans. I can’t imagine a situation where Japanese Americans were mocked for wearing kimonos in America. We had Japanese Australian kids who would bring them to school or wear them on special days, and we were all in awe. We used to try them on too. But perhaps there have been instances? That is up to them to decide, obviously. I would urge them to visit Japan more, to see how the Japanese feel culturallly about these things; but at the end of the day their experiences and feelings are their own and they absolutely have a right to express them.
It’s surprising the kimono incident at the MFA was a thing. It’s a common thing in Japan for tourists to dress up in kimonos and walk around historical sites. There are kimono rental places everywhere. It struck me as odd and uncomfortable when I first encountered it but then I got used to as it was ubiquitous and no one seemed to find it objectionable. And in the MFA incident, at least it had a veneer of being educational.
I just wish you’d spelled Controversy with a K; Kontroversy.
That’s all.. 😉
And people wonder why I don’t slather praise on her for her for supposedly being a crusader for justice.
Because it is all a huge, publicity stunting lie.
She plays at being a woman of color, but pulls the rich white woman card the second it becomes available. I’m pretty sure if Jordyn has known these tricks since she was a kid and went to the same school, it’s because her family had money too.
She pretends to be inclusive but she is completely willing to cash in on cultural appropriation when it becomes financially expedient – and let’s not fool ourselves here, she knew exactly what she was doing when she called it Kimono and was banking on it creating a scandal. She’s Frankenstein PMK’s best monster, after all.
I’m with you all the way @grabbyhands. It is one of the hills I will die on – she is no justice crusader. Its very easy to research the legislative history of the First Step Act and know she was never a major factor in its legislation. She was just one of some 50 celebrities including, Alyssa Milano, Courtney Cox, etc. who supported the bill to get signed. Though only Kim would make a deal with Jared, Ivanka and Trump to parlay this into a major publicity stunt and an opportunity whitewash their images. Say what you will about Alyssa Milano but she will never pose next to Trump and his ilk and say “Trump has compassion . . .” the way Kim did when she knows the occasion would get a lot of media mileage. Trump says to Kim, “I will turn you into the Angelina Jolie of prison reform, tell the public I have compassion”. Kim replied, “of course! Besides my instagram lacks white house poses because Obama never invited me and Kanye”. Both Kim and Trump deal in the same reality tv currency – ratings and wealth.
I will just leave this here, https://www.theroot.com/91-percent-of-inmates-freed-by-first-step-act-were-blac-1835387925 for a fun read on the First Step Act. There are many more articles like this. Truth and facts are out there, that is why it is easy to see Trump and the Kardashians for the liars they are.
Thank you. There is nothing real about this woman and what she says and does. Fakety fake fake.
I’m right there with you @grabbyhands. This woman and her entire family are the absolute worst. They prey on colour-struck Black men who think that having a White woman is some kind of step-up. The irony is that every one of these Black men are socially and economically superior to the Kardashians.
What they did to Lamar Odom should be enough to ‘cancel’ them forever. HE was the star in that Klan and they used him until Kim latched on to Kanye and then Lamar was put out with the trash.
There was a time when Kanye West was one of the most innovative artists in the world. His mother’s body was barely cold in her grave before Kim made her move, dumping her husband, who was simple enough to believe that Kim actually cared about him. Now, Kim has Van Jones caping for her all over the place. I KNOW she was trying to get in with the Obamas, as if Barack and Michelle would ever give her the time of day. So now she’s hanging with the Trumps, who are definitely more her type.
This family has left a bunch of broken people in their wake, MOST of them Black. I’m glad that the Smith family has publicly shown their support for Jordyn, to protect her from these horrible people. When the Trump family is in jail or in exile, Kim is going to have to find a VERY powerful Black man to save her fake ass.
“His mother’s body was barely cold in her grave before Kim made her move”
almost 5 years passed between Kanye’s mom’s death and when he started dating Kim. let’s not pretend it was a matter of months, he had years between the two events. he put out his best album yet in those years.
I’m not keen on blaming all of Kanye’s career downfill on Kim, either, he has proven over and over again that he makes bad decisions all on his own. I doubt Kim is influencing his music all that much, that’s on him. He’s the one choosing to constantly praise Trump in public, not Kim. Certainly she had a hand in his career downfall, since so many people hate her, but we can’t remove all blame from Kanye – his career, HIS responsibility. People have a tendency to remove the man’s agency when they’re talking about the men the Kardashians have ruined, like blaming Khloe for Lamar’s life even though he was a cheating addict long before he met her. He has destructive tendencies all on his own. Khloe didn’t help, but she certainly didn’t create Lamar’s lifelong issues.
Think of all the free press she has got for this line just from the controversy. Crazy like a fox.
She and her trash sisters keep doing this because they get away with it. People don’t care. They can say and do what they want, issue half-hearted apologies/justifications if anything, and people eat it up.
They aren’t the problem. The rest of us are.
So well said. The Kardashians are the type of celebrities our current society deserve. WE need to do better.
It’s a day ending in “Y” so of course she’s acting like trash.
Disclaimer: by no means I’m trying to justify her actions, I don’t admire her public personality at all, this is just me thinking out loud: I’m always surprised to hear that Kim K is white just because Armenians are technically not white. They literally share borders with Turkey and Iran and being predominantly Christian doesn’t make them less Arab looking. Even if you look at late Robert Kardashian, he totally looks like an Arab man : prominent nose, darker skin tone, gorgeous head of hear (I truly believe that that’s where Kim’s natural beauty came from before she messed it up). Unfortunately they are also often being discriminated against based on the way their looks don’t fit white beauty standards (especially in Russia that has huge Armenian population). And again, while I truly condemn most Kim’s stupid shenanigans I disagree that she’s white
Turkidh people are white. And by the definition I learned in school, Arabs too. America has weird racial calssifications, even if race is just a social construct.
Plus, just by appearance, Kim could pass as Mediterranean.
Thanks. That’s why I said in America she’s considered white. I made that point because Kim has tried to play that POC card before. In Merica, she’s white. As you pointed out, it may be different in other places.
You know Turks and Armenians consider ourselves and themselves white. Armenians are not Arabs (Armenians are usually offended by being called Arabs, by the way), and Kim’s father looks Armenian not like an Arab man – if anyone, he looked like Aristotle Onassis, a look that is common in Greece, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia.
Also Armenians have a wide range of looks: see Angela Sarafyan or Emma Sapunjyan (and Turks as well – Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ and Naz Elmas as examples), and those examples are not atypically light. You can start a quick argument in Turkey, Armenia and even Iran by calling the population not white. Imposing your ideas on another population is wrong – especially considering America’s history. Kim has always considered herself white, too, until she started to lean into her money making charade of racial ambiguity. And when you wash away the bronzer she is white.
White encompasses much more than just Northern Europeans and a Northern European look.
I mean, it’s their problem is they get offended by the assumption that they are not white. “Her Dad looks Armenian” is a very vague statement, Armenia is a tiny tiny country, they don’t get their own “look”, territorially they are too small for that. Her dad definitely looks more Arab/Northern African than white. Angela from Westworld is probably mixed, you don’t know her lineage, she might have gotten her last name from grandfather or something.
Tara your whole comment is offensive.
@Tara
I live in Eastern Europe and there are lots of Armenian expats living in my country. They have an unmistakable, recognizable look (I think they are gorgeous ppl btw). Your comment is invalid.
Race is an archaic and social construct. It does not exist and Armenians are the perfect example of why. (Caucasian applies to Europeans, Arabs, Persians, North Africans… Armenians are a mix of all. If you want to apply haplogroups to outdated and erroneous race classifications that is.) Unfortunately we can’t just erase the concept either because of the modern ramifications of what race meant historically eg. slavery, colonialism etc. Those things need to be addressed, spoken about, brought out into the light, rectified etc. And unfortunately it leads to internet battles about what race Kim is… somehow… bizarrely. Pointlessly.
Anthropology graduate here.
This. Thank you.
Thank you. I wish we could move on from race and judge people on behavior, NOT appearances…
I’m always leery of referring to the Kardashian sisters as straight-up “white women,” because their ethnic background is a bit more complex than that. Their father’s family was Armenian (a region of various ethnicities) and immigrated to America around the time of the Armenian genocide. Yes, the Kardashian sisters grew up privileged and out of touch, but I feel like that’s more due to the “Hollywood bubble” they grew up in and less to do with race. I just think they’re more status-privileged than they are white-privileged.
This is why ignorance is harmful. Please, educate yourself on ethnicity, race, nationality and religion.
at this point, I think she’s intending to piss people off because… publicity.
Of all the dumbassery names for knock-off Spanx, she choose Kimono for non-kimonos. What about Kimmies?
aaaaaaand she’s got a child molester on her t-shirt.
I wish Ray-J would tweet those EXACT same words to Kim ha !
This is nothing new. Kim Kardashian first rode on the backs of Black women to get ahead. Then she moved on to Black men. The Kardashian women seem to need to place themselves in some sort of conflict with WOC. I don’t know if they think it makes them appear to be more ‘White’ or if it scores them points with a certain type of Black man.
It’s interesting that she’s moved on to Japanese culture now. Maybe she thinks she’s sucked all she can out of Black folks.
does any of this really matter though?
she made an underwear line called kimono as a play on her name,Kim. does this actually harm anyone or harm civilization? besides the people squeezing themselves into her stuff (looks uncomfortable). big deal
my biggest offense is the stupidity of her marketing team. kimonos are long and flowy and this is shapewear?
I think Kimono’s are beautiful but I’m Mexican does that mean I can never own one or use the word?
Nope. Wear and say kimonos as much as you want. They are not a culturally significant item. Plus the Japanese don’t have the same views on culturally appropriation that Americans do. They love to dress foreigners in kimonos. I can’t tell you how many times I was pretty much “kidnapped” from festivals as a child so a group of Obāchans could put myself and my sister in traditional kimonos. Hell I still have a bunch of kimonos in my attic
Its not because she used Kimono but because she was actually trying to trademark the word “kimono”. This means that if anyone else uses the word “kimono”, say like the Japanese, Kim can can sue for lost money, to prevent them from using the word next time. People, tv shows, companies, etc. have to ask her permission and pay her, whenever they want to use the word. In other words, Kim wants to own the word “kimono”.
If it’s any consolation, the only thing I think about when I hear the word Kimono is the beautiful cultural dress NOT KK’s trash shapewear line. As a non Japanese person, I was pissed. No one should have to fight for the dignity of their cultural association with Lucifer’s Homegirl and her crotch goblins.
I’m no Kim fan, but that’s not what she’s doing at all. She’s asking to trademark a font logo.
I’m not one to stubbornly persist when I’m wrong – so I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out. Earlier articles I saw just mentioned that along with “Kimono Body”, etc. she plans to trademark “Kimono” as well – which will lead to what I’ve mentioned above (she’ll own it).
However, I do understand the vehemence of people against her using that particular word as her brand name. All one has to do is check on twitter and see what these highly enlightened reasons are. Like @Tiffany said below – there is a possibility that 10 – 20 years from now the majority will associate the word kimono, not with the Japanese garment but with the kk undergarments because the ubiquitousness of the klan is undeniable. The other products that trademarked kimono are not well-known thus, not posing the same danger. If by some miracle, the klan suddenly faded into obscurity, the word association will unlikely happen.
I think there is legitmate concern about erasure. Let’s say Kim’s line catches on, and becomes ubiquitous like Spanx, there’s the possibility that the commonly understood meaning of the word changes from a traditional Japanese garment to KK’s girdles.
Actually, I doubt anything of the sort would happen. In fact she’s requesting to trademark a font version of the word. Apparently there are other similar font trademarks for the word kimono that pre-dates Kim’s.
https://www.businessinsider.com/kim-kardashian-west-applied-to-trademark-kimono-for-new-shapewear-2019-6
You having doubts isn’t a strong argument that it won’t happen.
Trademarks don’t impact how people use words conversationally, so her having a trademark only with a specific font will not make an impact on how the word is used or spoken.
I googled the word this morning to see the true definition, and the Google search results were all about KK, with the actual garment being at the bottom of search results. It’s already happening.
She’s trademarking her logo. The idea that she will erase a thousand years of Japanese history with a logo is, I think unfounded. People are too smart to conflate Kim’s shape-wear with a Japanese kimono. She’s trademarked Kimoji too, but emoji’s are safe, aren’t they? No one mistakes Apple products for apples, do they?
You’re reaction to Kim and her product is similarly not a strong argument it will happen, either. The real product here, is to turn these feelings about Kim into a media/gossip product.
I’m not a fan of hers but she claims this product is aimed at woman is diverse sizes and skin colours and I can get behind that.
You are making a straw-man out of the logo. I am not arguing that it is the *logo* that would cause the harm; it is her naming her product line after something that already exists. Her logo isn’t shown on this page, and yet people are using the word Kimono in reference to her clothing line anyway. The name of the product doesn’t just exist in logo form.
Kimoji and emoji are 2 different words. They are spelled differently, they sound different, and they mean 2 different things. Kimono and Kimono are spelled the same, they sound the same.
I support diverse sizes and colors, but I won’t overlook harm being done to POC and make excuses for it.
Trademarks are much more limited now than before when product like xerox became ubiquitous to copying. I doubt this will happen. Plus, her line does seem to be a knockoff on Spanx, not sure how she will corner the market with a good competitor. Honestly, with the exception of Kylie’s makeup line, and I still kind of doubt the longevity of that as it really offers nothing unique but Kylie, there actual products, not entertainment related, don’t succeed. Even Kanye’s clothing line needed a ton of money to keep it afloat in the beginning, and now it’s a modest success. They had a clothing line at Sears which went belly up for obvious reasons. I mean who is going to buy underwear from them. Their figures are so cartoonish, not shaped like any woman I know, and she looks a bit lumpy to boot. Not sure this is even a good brand match much less become synonymous with shape wear. Granted people buy cause they want to be like them, but popularity lasts only so long. They do seem to be outliving their 15 min of fame, but it will eventually die just like everything.
Was she in California on Tuesday? That was the test date for the baby bar she has been studying for. Or did she get a special needs accommodation? Gets to test at home 😉
I did educate myself (in fact I’m not even American so I don’t have your preconceived racial stereotypes) that’s why I’m saying that her father doesn’t look white and there’s nothing offensive about it. Again, only because they are predominately Christian it doesn’t make them white. Will you be able to distinguish Latvian from Lithuanian (2 small countries close to each other). Definitely not. So why should it be different between Armenia and Iran? Yes, culturally they are very different but I’m talking about genetics here. Most bordering countries share similar genetic pool, it’s normal. About race being a human made concept – yes, we all heard this like 100 times before, this comment appears in every thread. Race is not exactly what I’m talking about.
I dont see anything wrong with your comment up above. Why? is it an insult to be called non white? I’m a white American who has been mistaken for Russian before and it didn’t bother me. Tbh, imo, the Kardashians aren’t white. Look at their dad. Look at kim’s old pics. I wouldn’t say it was an insult if someone called me non white. Shrug
The whole family is white/caucasian. Stop reaching.
@Tara, I don’t think that the offence is in whether or not a person is white or looks white. The offence is when someone imposes racial characteristics to people they don’t know and who’s histories they are speculating and making assumptions about.
@Tara as a person who married an Arab American, in America a lot of Arab Americans actually take offense people don’t know Arabs are considered white. My husband’s 100% Lebanese second generation family has several fair skinned people too, and one’s a blond with green eyes. Sorry, but to go just by looks especially in the US due to our history of slavery and one drop of “black” blood rule from back in our history is offensive to a fair amount of people. My husband get’s mistaken for Greek and Italian a lot, even though he’s Arab, are those nationalities people of color too? Greece is literally a short boat ride to Lebanon. Now why do some Arab American’s take offense at not being referred to as caucasian, probably cause for all their lives they’ve been white, and they are like wait a minute why am I not considered white now? Most are very proud of their culture, but it’s just not been how they have been defined.
Iran is not an Arab country either.
Does it come with coupons for plastic surgery too, so you can look like your favorite deformed K-skank?
Seriously, who buys her crap?
I think the kimono will survive Kim’s play on words.
With the Jordyn thing…..is she famous for anything else besides being Kylie’s friend? I can see sort of see how they would feel that she was supporting herself and her family off handouts.
The Kimono thing….yeah thats definitely in poor taste. Its not illegal, its probably about the same as naming a lipstick colour or nail polish. But srill super tacky and honestly dont expect less from them.
Not really but fame and support are two different things, and Kim said Jordyn’s family too. Apparently, her parents are working in the entertainment industry. One’s a talent scout and the other works directly with Will Smith. So I don’t think the Kardashian’s supported her or her family. One issue with the Kardashians is they think fame is everything, but you can be successful without the fame.
Kim – oh no. Fixed it.
She always looks so uncomfortable.