Kristen MohammadiKim Kardashian West took to Twitter to announce her new shapewear line called Kimono Intimates. Following her tweet came immediate backlash from heaps of people claiming Kardashian using the word Kimono to represent her brand is cultural appropriation.
Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work.
Photos by Vanessa Beecroft pic.twitter.com/YAACrRltX3
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) June 25, 2019
Incase you didn’t know (apparently Kim didn’t) kimono’s are sacred in Japan. Japanese people have been wearing kimono’s for actual centuries. People in Japan still wear kimonos during major life moments from birth to weddings. So it’s really offensive for a western celebrity to claim “kimono’s” as if it’s a new term. I mean, especially considering Kimono Intimates is an actual underwear line. So like not okay.
People are especially upset because she actually trademarked the word kimono in a certain font. She also filed trademarks for “kimono world” and “kimono body.” But like, Kim Kardashian has absolutely no right to trademark the word kimono at all.
In response to all of this, people began storming Twitter with images of what kimono’s actually look like. Many tweets give a brief history, reminding everyone kimonos are a seriously important garment to an entire country. The hashtag “KimOhNo” was trending on Twitter, as so many responded to Kim’s tweet in outrage.
Are you kidding？
Do you Know #kimono ？😂 pic.twitter.com/s1hb4wnSQW— レナ (@Frttko_41) 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
Her new line doesn’t even resemble or replicate traditional kimonos. So, I reckon she’s literally just ripping the term kimono off because it has the word “Kim” in it. And that’s just fucked if you ask me.
Some people fear Kim using the word kimono will change the meaning of the word to reflect the Kardashian brand, instead of representing Japanese culture. So this is a big deal. While Kim was aiming to do a positive thing with this brand by offering a wide range of sizes and colors, she ultimately dropped the ball on this one.
Needless to say, many people are not into this. And seriously, if this is Kim Kardashian’s passion project of 15 years, she’s certainly had enough time to come up with a name for this brand that doesn’t rip off another culture.
Image Source: @KimKardashian
