[Featured image courtesy of SKIMS]

In our first episode for 2025, Emma speaks to Nina Khoury, VP of Strategic Operations at SKIMS. 

Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, SKIMS has skyrocketed from startup to powerhouse, valued at $4 billion in 2023 and still expanding, with brick-and-mortar stores now opening across the US.

Nina has been with SKIMS from the early days, stepping into a strategic leadership role tailor-made for her expertise, spanning growth, transformation, strategic operations and ESG.

Emma and Nina dive into what it takes to scale a fashion brand, from SKIMS’s tech-driven operations to the broader industry move toward automation and AI. They discuss how robotics is transforming traditional warehousing, SKIMS micro-fulfillment pilot for same-day delivery, and why integrating AI at a foundational level is crucial for efficiency, supply chains, and the future of DTC retail.

Listen to the full 35 minute episode below or find The Interline Podcast on your favourite audio platform.

Key talking points from Emma and Nina’s conversation:

  • Nina’s role, and about the career path that led her there.
  • The transferable skills from Nina’s past experiences that proved invaluable in her new role that still form part of her toolkit today.
  • How SKIMS has been experimenting with technology with autonomous mobile robots across its fulfilment centres.
  • The other use cases for technology for SKIMS and the broader industry when it comes to AI: looking specifically at AI agents, demand forecasting, and personalisation.
  • Advice for fashion businesses when it comes to scaling a business.
  • More details on SKIMS’s current distribution channels and growth ambitions for the  near future.

Catch up and follow the show:

Use these embedded players to listen to the latest episode of The Interline Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, to catch up on episodes from our past, or to follow the show on those popular platforms so you’re notified when future episodes release.

The Interline Podcast is also available on most other podcast platforms – simply search for us in your listening app of choice. And look for our next episode very soon.

Stories from the fold between fashion and technology, told by industry experts.

You May Also Like
PPodcast
Read More
  • 20 minute read

BNPL Meets Repair, An AI-Shaped Holiday, Tech ROI Analysis, And In-Store VTO

This week, Grace Robinson and Ben Hanson discuss Klarna’s repair partnership with Save Your Wardrobe, Adobe’s holiday shopping forecasts for AI and buy now, pay later, a16z’s findings on consumer and business AI adoption, L’Oréal’s market value and beauty’s relationship with technology, and Tesco’s in-store virtual try-on trial.
PPodcast
Read More
  • 29 minute read

How Much Will Fashion Let AI Decide?

Our data shows that fashion’s use of AI is outpacing its willingness to trust it with important choices. But technology vendors see a clear progression from assisting to automating decision-making, paired with a move away from traditional interfaces. What is fashion comfortable letting AI decide today, and how fast is that frontier likely to move?
PPodcast
Read More
  • 25 minute read

The Future Of Fashion’s Social Strategies

Social media and influencer marketing have made big marks on fashion - and vice versa - but strategies are changing as a result of both synthetic content and the tech-led evolution of creators into something more closely resembling traditional media. What’s next for brand marketing?
PPodcast
Read More
  • 17 minute read

The Case For Making Wearable Medical Technology More Visible

Deafmetal Founder Jenni Ahtiainen, who designs jewellery and safety accessories for hearing devices, shares a different vantage point on the relationship between wearable medical technology and self-expression, and what overcoming the stigma attached to hearing loss can tell us about a much bigger emerging category.
PPodcast
Read More
  • 25 minute read

Fashion’s Ongoing Dance With Deferred Payment Credit

Fintech platforms have become increasingly tied to brands' and retailers' pursuit of growth in customers, ABV, and GMV. But with new guardrails applied to buy-now-pay-later, and the cost of living rising, could card-linked instalments be different enough to change things?