Santa Claus has survived centuries of tradition, but he was no match for beige, shapewear, or Kim Kardashian. A holiday TikTok posted last Monday to the SKIMS account sparked widespread mockery after showing Santa Claus visiting the brand’s New York City flagship store in a look that was unmistakably on-brand.
Gone was the iconic red velvet suit. In its place was a muted beige ensemble that looked less North Pole and more minimalist showroom chic.
In the TikTok video posted on SKIMS, Santa shared details on the look:
“I’m wearing this lovely outfit that Kim sent me, and underneath is the Ultimate Bodysuit in Sienna.”
The video overlay reads, “SKIMS Santa fit check,” a Gen Z phrase that probably did not exist before 2025 but already feels inescapable and cool to the youths.
You can watch the video below:
@skims SKIMS Santa Claus wears SKIMS.
Even though the color swap raised eyebrows, viewers were more fixated on something else entirely: Santa looked thinner and a bit sad, like the Grinch took all his cookies and milk. The traditional rotund figure was missing, replaced by a streamlined silhouette that sent the comments section into a spiral.
Within hours, the nickname “Ozempic Santa” took off. And the joke lands because it taps into this year’s most unavoidable cultural conversations: the normalization and quiet acceptance of Ozempic-thin aesthetics.
As GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have moved from medical treatment to mainstream weight-loss solutions, their visual markers have been more than scrutinized. The internet notes that rapid weight loss, lean frames, and sharper facial features are familiar online, whether praised, critiqued, or simply expected.
So when Santa showed up looking less cookie-forward and more contour-focused, the internet connected the dots. The presence of the Ultimate Bodysuit under the suit only fueled the commentary. This was classic Kardashian shock branding.
The video was part of a SKIMS promotion that allowed customers to meet Santa in-store with any purchase. Over the weekend, shoppers visiting the SKIMS flagship in New York City encountered a Santa Claus dressed in beige with white fur trim, a stark departure from the bold red traditionally associated with the character.
The comments were relentless. Some joked that Mrs. Claus, who seemed to be missing from the festive meet-and-greet, really needed to intervene. Others mourned the loss of Santa’s belly filled with jelly as if it were a sacred holiday tradition. The overall consensus was clear: even Santa is not safe from 2025 beauty standards.
The reaction quickly spilled onto other social media platforms, where users had plenty to say:
As for the suit’s color, the shift from Rudolph red to muted beige should hardly come as a surprise. It is Kardashian’s signature aesthetic, the kind of Pinterest board filled with eggshell white, reliable black, and greige—the now-inescapable shade that looks like gray and beige had a Kardashian-approved baby.
Neutral tones are the foundation of SKIMS, and the All’s Fair star has been vocal about her preference for monochromatic palettes for years.
During a 2022 appearance on the Angie Martinez IRL podcast, Kardashian explained that philosophy plainly:
“Grays, heather gray, black, navy, white, cream, khaki. I mean, we can stick with all neutrals, and like, not a lot of color blocking… My house is so zen. So, I asked how everyone felt about it, and everyone actually said, ‘That would make our life so easy.’”
That minimalist vision has turned SKIMS into a massive commercial success. Last week, Kardashian promoted the brand’s collaboration with Nike while wearing limited-edition beige leggings priced at $118. Earlier this month, she appeared in another SKIMS collaboration with The North Face, reinforcing the brand’s grip on muted tones and body-contouring silhouettes.
Recent SKIMS collections continue expanding within the same restrained framework, introducing new shades like Bone, Gunmetal, and Onyx. According to the brand’s press release, there will be “new and returning silhouettes” designed to deliver “comfort, style, and functionality across outerwear, contouring base layers, and versatile separates.”
Which brings the conversation back to Santa. The backlash is not really about Christmas tradition or nostalgia. It is about how even Santa Claus is now subject to modern wellness culture, branding expectations, and the pressure to look thinner, sleeker, and more on trend.
In 2025, even Santa has a brand. It’s beige, bodysuited, and pharmaceutically streamlined.
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