A British Media setup. Meghan Markle and the Kardashians.

In this modern age of Tech and certain fashion startup companies, you will expect their initial success to grab headlines often by how much products they have sold or their market capitalisation on day one. There is a long list of companies I could list here who have made hay of their success on day one.

Kim Kardashian's Skims story is often told with a mention of a sell out on day one and allegedly making $2 million profit in the first year or is it on day one? No one is certain as there are no exact public financial statements to rely on. With that narrative and storytelling Kim Kardashian's Skims has managed to balloon in valuation between 2019 and 2024 to an estimated $4 billion be it with an astonishing $701 million raised in several funding rounds. It makes you wonder what those investors want from their $701 million stake which is largely explained as investments in new markets. That is about 25 percent of Skims current valuation and there are very limited public information about the company's profitability except for projected net sales figures.

There are however several questions as to what is really fueling Kim Kardashian's companies valuation. Recently another one of her startup company, Skkn had to be consolidated within Skims after a minority investor Coty Inc who acquired its stake in Skkn for $200 million in 2021 resold it to the majority owner with a $71 million lost. Skkn was also being valued into a billion dollar company. It begs the question of how come the valuation of Skims had not ballooned further since they now also own Skkn. It also raised questions as to how these fashion startup companies are valuated given that the same investor Coty Inc was already involved in a controversy because of its $600 million stake in another member of the Kardashian clan, Kylie Cosmetics which drove the valuation of Kylie Jenner's startup company to $1.2 billion. It was later alleged that the reported sales figures may not have been what it seemed at the time. And then embarrassingly Forbes came out with the story about Kylie Jenner's should I say truths.

Another fashion company of another Kardashian, Good American is valued at $3 billion but yet public information available of Khloe Kardashian's net worth is put at $60 million. You then wonder if she is the alleged co-founder and possible majority owner of Good American, why do those who attempted to put a valuation into her net wealth only managed to find it in millions?

I started with this analysis of the Kardashians fashion empire because the Duchess of Sussex's critics have put a lot of emphasis of an alleged snub from a Kardashian in their headlines this week. A lot has been written by the same media hailing Kim Kardashian's Skims as a success story repeating the same limited financial details available in the public domain. Yes, that $2 million profit allegedly on day one or is it in the first year?

There is an emerging success story regarding the Duchess of Sussex Meghan's As Ever Wine (the "Winery") which it is estimated could have had a similar level of sales impact on day one of the startup company. Since the restock of the 5th of August 2025, there is something extraordinary quietly going on. The media expected sell out has not happened yet. It is not always about the sell outs but what you sell and how much of it. A multi million dollar sales figure is certain. By how much? Who knows. Almost nine days after the restock of the 5th of August 2025, the vintage 2024 As Ever Napa Valley Rosé is still available. The Kunde Family Winery where it is bottled certainly has the capacity to sustain the availability.