Can Spanx Survive the Skims Era?

Summary of Can Spanx Survive the Skims Era?

by Puck | Audacy

24m•July 17, 2026
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Overview of Can Spanx Survive the Skims Era?

This episode of The Powers That Be Daily looks at the changing shapewear and fashion-retail landscape, focusing on how Spanx — once the category-defining brand — is struggling under pressure from Skims and other newer, more culturally dominant labels. Host Peter Hamby and reporter Malik Morris also broaden the conversation into a bigger industry trend: legacy brands are increasingly hiring executives from outside fashion to help reset strategy, sharpen storytelling, and revive growth.

Spanx vs. Skims: What Went Wrong

How Skims changed the category

  • Skims launched in 2019 and quickly became the new shorthand for shapewear.
  • Its marketing power, celebrity association, and direct-to-consumer momentum helped it overtake Spanx in consumer mindshare.
  • By the time Blackstone bought Spanx in 2021 for $1.2 billion, Skims was already a real threat.

Spanx’s challenges

  • Spanx has struggled to modernize and extend beyond its original shapewear identity.
  • The company pushed into apparel, but the product line reportedly lacked a distinctive enough point of view.
  • Sales and profits have been declining, and the business has gone through leadership churn.

Ownership and leadership shakeup

  • Malik Morris reports that former CEO Cricket Whiten quietly exited last fall.
  • Sarah Blakely, Spanx’s founder and public face, had already stepped back into an executive chair role and has now also left the board.
  • Blackstone reportedly sold its stake at the end of June to HPS Investment Partners, a lender tied to the original deal, suggesting a weak exit rather than a premium sale.
  • The company’s latest leader, Robert Trauber, has floated ideas like putting Spanx into off-price retail such as TJ Maxx and Marshalls — a move that may help volume but risks brand dilution.

Core takeaway on Spanx

  • Spanx is not dead, but it is at a crossroads.
  • The company still has brand recognition and loyal customers, but it needs a clearer strategy if it wants to regain relevance and profitability.

Why Outside Executives Are Taking Over Fashion Brands

A major thread in the discussion is the growing trend of fashion and retail companies hiring leaders from unrelated industries to reset underperforming brands.

Victoria’s Secret: a turnaround case study

  • Victoria’s Secret brought in Hillary Super from Savage X Fenty.
  • The move worked because she understood both the consumer and the cultural moment without being tied to the brand’s old baggage.
  • The company has leaned into:
    • nostalgia,
    • tighter brand positioning,
    • fashion-forward campaigns,
    • and a clearer understanding of its core customer.
  • Malik points to Hailey Bieber collaborations and the renewed relevance of the Pink brand as examples of smart cultural alignment.

Gap: entertainment-driven revival

  • Richard Dickson, previously at Mattel, has helped push Gap toward more “fashiontainment” — a blend of fashion, music, and pop culture storytelling.
  • The brand has leaned into celebrity and music-video-style marketing.
  • This strategy appears to be working: the flagship Gap brand has reportedly seen sales growth, with one recent quarter up around 10%.

J.Crew: narrowing focus

  • J.Crew Group is bringing in a dedicated brand president for the flagship J.Crew business.
  • The hire comes from beauty rather than apparel, underscoring how often retailers are looking outside their own lane for leadership.
  • The challenge will be learning the specifics of apparel — especially the value equation, pricing, and how to translate storytelling into full-price sales.

Kering: cross-industry leadership at the luxury level

  • The episode also mentions Luca de Meo, who moved from the auto industry to become CEO of Kering.
  • The broader point: in a turnaround, companies often want leaders who are not constrained by industry habits or internal assumptions.

Big Ideas and Takeaways

  • Brand equity matters. Spanx may still be familiar, but Skims owns the cultural conversation.
  • Customer clarity is everything. The brands making progress are the ones that know exactly who they’re selling to.
  • Outside hires can be a strength. New executives can bring urgency, decisiveness, and a fresh lens.
  • Results vary. Some turnarounds are working better than others, but the trend reflects a real shift in how legacy brands are trying to reinvent themselves.
  • Luxury, fashion, and retail are increasingly borrowing from entertainment. Celebrity, nostalgia, and storytelling are now central to winning consumers.

Bottom Line

The episode uses Spanx as a case study in what happens when a once-dominant brand fails to keep pace with a faster, cooler competitor like Skims. It then widens the lens to show that across retail and fashion, companies are increasingly betting on outsider leaders to reboot culture, sharpen their identity, and drive a turnaround.