Spanx vs Skims | Not Your Grandmother’s Girdle | 1

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1998, a young office equipment sales rep named Sara Blakely can’t find anything to wear under a pair of tight fitting white pants. Everything she tries on makes her feel unattractive. In a moment of inspiration, she cuts off the feet of a pair of pantyhose, saving the outfit and the day. She realizes she’s not the only woman who might like a product like this, so she takes her modest life savings and invents a product that changes an entire industry.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Business Wars, TikTok versus the USA, early and ad-free right now.
0:07.6	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:14.8	It's May 2016 in Khan France.
0:22.8	Kim Kardashian scowls at her reflection in the mirror.
0:26.0	She's dressed in a floor-length sparkling silver dress with a long train that seems custom
0:30.9	made for her.
0:32.2	The dress is gorgeous, but Kardashian hates the way it looks.
0:36.7	In just a few hours,
0:37.7	Kardashian set to make her red carpet debut
0:39.9	at the prestigious con film festival,
0:42.5	and she needs to look perfect.
0:44.6	She's known for accentuating her hourglass figure.
0:47.8	It's helped her build a business empire
0:49.4	and a net worth of over $50 million.
0:52.3	Every outfit has to be a hit,
0:57.5	and this doesn't look like a hit.
1:05.0	Kardashians' team gathers around her. They agree, something's off. Her stylist has Kardashian do a 360. The stylist gestures at the skin-tight slip that's visible through the dress's side slits.
1:12.4	It's too pale.
1:18.8	Kardashian nods. He's right. The contrast between her skin color and the slip makes it look like underwear. It needs to be darker, closer to her own skin tone. Her stylist says they can dye it.
1:25.3	Kardashians not convinced. They don't have any dye, and there's not enough time.
1:29.9	They need to leave for the red carpet in less than 90 minutes.
1:32.9	The stylist thinks for a minute, then snaps his fingers.
	...

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