‘I’m celebrating this body’: Kim Kardashian’s recruit Tyra Banks flies the flag for curvy women

Tyra Banks discusses embracing her curvy body before a shoot with Kim Kardashian‘s SKIMS that would later become quite controversial.

The 42-year-old Kardashian brought 48-year-old Banks, 49-year-old Klum, 41-year-old Alessandra Ambrosio and 34-year-old Candice Swanepoel – all supermodels and moms – together for a SKIMS shoot dubbed The Icons on this week’s episode of The Kardashian. 

Banks opened up about how she likes the SKIMS brand for embracing various body types… before the shoot would become controversial for Banks’ photos allegedly altered to give her a smaller waist.

Embrace: Tyra Banks discusses embracing her curvy body before a shoot with Kim Kardashian ‘s SKIMS that would later become quite controversial

Controversial: Banks opened up about how she likes the SKIMS brand for embracing various body types… before the shoot would become controversial for Banks’ photos allegedly altered to give her a smaller waist 

Towards the start of the episode, Kim Kardashian tells her mother Kris Jenner that she has this idea to bring all of her favorite models together for a SKIMS shoot.

‘Seeing how far they’ve come and they’re all moms and entrepreneurs and still so stunning… they were legendary, they are legendary,’ Kim says in confession.

While Kim goes to chat with Banks during the shoot, the modeling legend revealed why she likes Kim’s brand so much.

Shoot: Towards the start of the episode, Kim Kardashian tells her mother Kris Jenner that she has this idea to bring all of her favorite models together for a SKIMS shoot

‘But what I love about your brand SKIMS is it’s for every single body, and so I’m celebrating this body. This is who I am today,’ Banks says.

While Kim herself had no intentions originally to be a part of the campaign, she was talked into it by Klum and Banks who encouraged her.

When the campaign was launched in early April, it came under fire from many fans who accused the SKIMS brand of altering Banks’ body to give her a slimmer waist.

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Talked into it: While Kim herself had no intentions originally to be a part of the campaign, she was talked into it by Klum and Banks who encouraged her

A photo that surfaced of Banks from the day of the shoot appeared to show her having a bigger waist than the photos from the campaign.

The side-by-side photos went viral, leading many fans to speak out on social media about the apparent digital alterations. 

Despite the online backlash, both Kim and Tyra herself defended the campaign shortly thereafter, when they both appeared on The Today Show.

Oh no: Kim Kardashian’s new star-studded Skims campaign has been accused of heavily photoshopping Tyra Banks (pictured left before alleged changes and right in real ad with a smaller waist) 

‘This is something I’ve been talking about for decades. So, me curvier, me damn near almost 50 years old in this campaign — I think it is pretty empowering,’ Banks said.

Banks added that when she first spoke with Kim about the campaign, ‘She said when I was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, she hadn’t seen boobs that were real and big.’

‘She said that that gave her self-esteem for her body. So we had, like, a serious conversation, and I finally said, ‘Let’s do this!”‘ Banks added.

Decades: ‘This is something I’ve been talking about for decades. So, me curvier, me damn near almost 50 years old in this campaign — I think it is pretty empowering,’ Banks said

Kim stated, ‘I’ve known Tyra for a really long time. I just have so much respect for her, so we just had an honest, heart-to-heart conversation, and she got to hear about what the brand stands for, why I started the brand and just all about supporting women.’

SKIMS never directly addressed the allegations of digital alterations in the Icons campaign. 

Wow: The model, 48, appeared in the new ad in her underwear alongside (L-R) Candice Swanepoel, Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio and Kim (centre) herself for the campaign