What: Skims has entered the Spanish market through El Corte Inglés, opening its first points of sale at the Serrano store in Madrid and in Marbella, and selling its collections on the department store's website.

Why it is important: By securing Skims' first Spanish stores and its local online distribution, El Corte Inglés gains a high-visibility, social-first brand that can draw younger customers to its stores and website.

Skims, the intimate apparel and loungewear company founded by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede in 2018, has entered the Spanish retail market through El Corte Inglés. The brand is present at the Serrano Street store in Madrid and is now expanding to Marbella. The agreement also covers sales through El Corte Inglés' website; until now, Spanish customers could only buy Skims products through the company's European e-commerce platform, which has no dedicated page for Spain.

The move is part of a wider international push. Following its recent London opening, Skims set itself the goal mid-year of ending 2026 with 55 own stores, doubling its current network, and exceeding one hundred points of sale in 2027. It has recently expanded into the United Arab Emirates, with a presence in Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, and into Mexico through local partners, with openings planned in Seoul, Delhi and Mumbai.

To support growth outside the United States, the company hired Natalie Buchberger, formerly of Tapestry, Zara and Snipes, to lead franchise expansion across EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Skims had 27 own stores in early September and reached a $5 billion valuation in November 2025 after a $225 million funding round.

IADS Notes: Skims' choice of El Corte Inglés as its entry point into Spain follows a wider pattern of digital-native brands using department stores to reach new markets, as when Nuuds moved into wholesale with Nordstrom to use the retailer's curation and customer engagement (Inside Retail, March 2026). The same partnership-led logic underpinned Marks & Spencer's US fashion debut, which relied on Nordstrom's stores and website rather than standalone openings to build awareness at lower risk (WWD, March 2026). The combined store-and-online format of the Skims agreement is consistent with El Corte Inglés' updated strategic plan, which treats physical stores as experiential differentiators and positions the website and app as the first point of contact for many customers (Press Release, July 2026). Celebrity-linked brands are also being used to draw traffic and engagement: Breuninger staged s.Oliver's campaign launch around an in-store appearance by Heidi Klum, with ticketed Meet & Greet access and an exclusive capsule pop-up (Press Release, September 2026). Reliance Retail acquired Priyanka Chopra Jonas's Anomaly for its brand equity and appeal to younger, digitally engaged consumers (India Economic Times, May 2026).

El Corte Inglés onboards Skims