Copyright Vulture
Kim Kardashian’s brand Skims recently released a line of, what the company refers to as, “faux hair micro string thongs.” That’s five more words than it needed to describe the product, though, when “merkin” would suffice. At the Academy Museum Gala on October 18, Kardashian explained the concept simply came to her. “That was just a fun idea that I had,” Kardashian told Variety. “There was a shoot, and someone wanted to, like, have hair down there once. And I was like, ‘Couldn’t this just be easy and have it on a thong?’ And so we made that happen.” Congratulations to Kim Kardashian on this lucrative idea (of course, the merkins sold out within minutes), but she is a few centuries too late. Merkins were first developed in 1450, per the Oxford Companion to the Body, and were created so that women could shave off pubic lice without sacrificing that fabulous bush. Prostitutes continued to use them for that same reason through the 17th century. Last year, at the 2024 Maison Margiela couture show, the models wore merkins designed by John Galliano. At the Academy Museum Gala, meanwhile, the inventor of the faux-hair micro string thong wore Margiela, too, including a complete face covering. “I had no idea that it would get that reaction and sell out in a few minutes,” she added to Variety. The oldest profession still makes for good business.
