Take one fast have a look at Bianca Censori’s Instagram account and you’d be forgiven for considering it belonged to a different lady completely. Petite, brunette, and with putting doll-like options, the 30-year-old Australian mannequin bears such a putting resemblance to Kim Kardashian that it nearly makes you need to ask her to double-check that she is definitely a distinct particular person.
The likeness between the two ladies has been half of the cultural discourse ever since Censori began relationship her now-husband, Kanye West, who was beforehand married to Kardashian for seven years.
Since then, the couple has been a lightning rod for on-line outrage, principally because of Censori’s quite a few barely-there outfits – there was the pillow she carried to cowl her breasts, the sheer poncho she wore with nothing beneath, and in February, there was the skin-tight, fully see-through costume at the Grammys that primarily rendered her fully nude on the pink carpet.
Much of this has sparked concern, not least as a result of Censori nearly by no means speaks in public. Is she comfortable and protected? Are her wild outfits half of a controlling plan concocted by West? Is he attempting to morph her right into a Kardashian clone?
We’ll most likely by no means know. But this week, the dialog took a distinct flip as Censori teased the launch of her upcoming lingerie model on Instagram. Not solely was she all of the sudden extra coated up than we’ve got seen her in years, but when the images are something to go by, she is now making a play for Kim’s massively profitable underwear and shapewear model SKIMS.
On Sunday, Censori posted six images of herself posing in numerous lingerie units, comprising tights, knickers, and what seem like full protection, maternity-inspired bras. In the caption, Censori merely tagged Marc Jacobs, teasing a possible collaboration, though the US-based vogue model, for which Kardashian has beforehand modelled, has confirmed to The Independent that they are not working with Censori. Still, the photographs did what they have been meant to. They have gotten folks gawping and speaking.
Since launching SKIMS in 2018, Kardashian has turn out to be synonymous with the rising bodywear-as-outerwear development. The model is massively profitable, incomes a $4bn (£3.04bn) valuation earlier this yr and partnering with a roster of high-profile celebrities, with everybody from Sabrina Carpenter to Kate Moss fronting its campaigns.
If Censori actually is launching a label whose hero merchandise are lingerie-based, it’s nearly inconceivable to not see this as a land seize. But who’s behind it? Could or not it’s simply one other try from West to compete along with his ex-wife, like every little thing else Censori appears to do?
The bras themselves are, at the least, fairly totally different from these offered by SKIMS. With full protection and satin vintage-looking, torpedo designs, suppose Madonna meets breastfeeding. It’s hardly the type of garment you’d count on from Censori, given her historical past of principally sheer, considerably nonexistent outfits. We’ll absolutely discover out extra on 11 December when the full launch is unveiled. .
The model set has already agreed that these bras are not meant to be worn beneath garments. They are tops in their very own proper. Like crop tops, solely they’ve been cropped a little bit extra. Likewise, for the tights, which Censori has beforehand been seen carrying with none underwear in any respect. It is definitely tapping into the development of investing in standout items of lingerie.
No longer reserved to its utilitarian roots, bras have turn out to be a staple wardrobe merchandise in latest months, one that’s to be displayed moderately than hidden away. In August, British Vogue declared bras “the unexpected styling hero of 2025”, citing references comparable to Doechii, who wore a Vivienne Westwood silk bra and mini skirt to carry out at Glastonbury. Charli XCX additionally sang her set in a customized bra by McQueen. Then there’s Addison Rae, who carried out at The Box in Soho over the summer season in a scalloped yellow bra with matching knickers from Agent Provocateur.
“We always make sure our bras can be worn to be seen, under jackets or tops, or on their own,” says Lucy Litwack, CEO at lingerie label, Coco de Mer. “And we see women of all ages sporting this trend. It’s a more modern version of the ‘underwear as outerwear’ look, with bras being more thoughtfully incorporated into outfits with matching skirts or other items so that it becomes a seamless part of your look.”
The mannequin Alva Claire, who regularly wears seen bras, concurred in an interview with Vogue. “I love wearing undergarments as outer garments, whether it’s a slip or a bra. I think it makes me feel powerful and like…‘whatever’,” she mentioned. “It’s quite experimental – especially when I wear a bra top with something that I’d wear outside, like jeans or my Comme [des Garçons] skirt. It creates this really beautiful language between inside and outside clothes. I think that’s what I enjoy, always finding an element of… surprise, I guess.”
In phrases of the different names making waves for their assertion bras, Censori could be competing with behemoths like Dolce & Gabbana and Miu Miu, whose satin cone bra (£750 a pop) went viral over the summer season. And sure, she would additionally even be competing with SKIMS, which makes each kind of bra you might suppose of, together with full protection ones that aren’t completely dissimilar from those who Censori was photographed carrying.
So, is Censori set to turn out to be the subsequent large bodywear billionaire? Was this all half of a calculated ruse for West to get his closing revenge? We’ll have to attend till 11 December to seek out out.