Kim Kardashian’s Skims lingerie range now includes thong with built-in pubic wig

Kim Kardashian has launched the furry panties under her Skims range. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

When it comes to publicity stunts, Kim Kardashian may have just outdone herself.

The socialite and reality TV star has raised a few eyebrows with the latest addition to her underwear range, Skims — a barely there thong, lavishly adorned with fake pubic hair.

Dubbed “the ultimate bush,” the G-string comes in a range of 12 different colours, and sizes from XXS to 4XL.

Visitors to the Skims site are greeted with a grainy image from a 1970s-style game show, in which a white-haired male host gestures to a sign saying “Does the Carpet Match the Drapes?” In front of him are three women in low-cut strappy tops, each holding a sign with a large question mark over their tight shorts.

Once shoppers click through to the listing itself, they are told: “With this iconic new panty, your carpet can be whatever color you want it to be.”

The listing describes the thong as Skims’ “most daring panty yet,” adding: “Hand-made in a super sheer, stretch mesh, this string thong features a mix of curly and straight faux hair in twelve different shade variations.”

Every version of the garment appears to be sold out online, with prospective shoppers given the opportunity to join a waitlist.

Kardashian’s shapewear brand is known for grabbing headlines with its quirky range, including underwear encrusted with Swarovski crystals, a molded nipple bra, a pierced nipple bra and facial shapewear.

Kardashian promoted the range on her Instagram stories — though she held back from modeling it herself. Instead, she provides the voiceover as the camera pans over the range of options. “How funny are these merkins, you guys?” she says. “We have different colors, different hairs… this is insane. Skims, baby!”

The launch of the furry drawers, which retail for US$32, has been met with some skepticism online.

Responding to a short video clip on the company’s Instagram, one user asked: “Is Kim unwell?” while another said: “I can grow one of these myself in like 48 hours.” A third concluded: “Nobody asked for this.”

Liza Betts, Researcher and Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion, UAL, told CNN that “what would be really shocking, is for Skims to really embrace the notion of the ‘Ultimate Bush’ and provide something that represents natural pubic hair rather than a trimmed, tinted, controlled, performative, tired version of the feminine.”

CNN has reached out to Skims for comment.