You Can Wear Kim Kardashian’s Butt For $450
At the New York Fashion Week, you can always expect to see the unexpected on and off the runway. Over the top looks was a wearable model of Kardashian’s famous behind.
Dubbed “The Bum,” it’s the creation of New York-based Scandinavian conceptual artists Ida Jonsson, 22, and Simon Saarinen, 24, and Swedish fashion designer Beate Karlsson, 24. “The Bum” is an exact replica of Kardashian’s booty and made its debut at New York Fashion Week last week at an event for Elle magazine, and then was later strut around outside the fashion shows of Rebecca Minkoff and Christopher John Rogers at Spring Studios.
Karlsson bravely cast herself as the model, wearing the exposed faux bum. It’s essentially modeled after Kardashian’s go-to biker shorts with flexible silicone to emulate those generous cheeks. Though Kim K hasn’t commented on how she’d wear the statement piece, Karlsson paired the daring derriere with bold sunglasses, a red puffer coat, a denim tube top and open-toed over-the-knee boots.
(There’s no word on what Kanye thinks of the styling.) “You could see the confusion in people’s eyes,” Karlsson told the New York Post. “We were quickly surrounded by a big group of paparazzi who wanted to take pictures of ‘The Bum.’”
Don’t mistake this for a Fashion Week stunt—it was actually years in the making. Jonsson and Saarinen launched “The Bum” project two years ago and since then have been carefully measuring and monitoring Kardashian’s most famous asset.
After carefully taking every image and piece of information into account, they funneled all of those details into the creation of the accurately scaled 3D molding of her butt. Interestingly, over the course of their research, they learned that her butt’s measurements have evolved a little since 2018. To bring a wearable version to life, they brought Parsons and Central Saint Martins alum Karlsson on board.
The prototype has plenty of numbers behind it, too. It has a circumference of 42 inches, measures 15.3 inches across, and weighs in at six pounds. Ultimately, the trifecta aims to make it as light and comfortable as they can before it goes into production. Though they haven’t decided on the final mix yet, it will mostly likely be crafted from a combination of silicone, spandex and microfiber. They’re looking into manufacturing it in China, Portugal or possibly even stateside in Brooklyn, with the goal of selling a limited run this spring.
But “The Bum” isn’t just about, well, the bum. Jonsson, Saarinen and Karlsson see it as a larger symbol of today’s social media-absorbed world, in which people will go pretty far to get likes. The trio has said they hope it triggers some people to deeply question all the attention Kardashian’s behind has received.
Like all things Kardashian, emulating them doesn’t come cheap, and the cost of the finalized piece will run somewhere between $450 and $600. However, some fans might argue that wearing the most Instagram-famous tush of all time—and arguably a pop culture symbol—is priceless.
About Author
