Sydney Sweeney has never been one to shy away from a challenge — and if the people around her are to be believed, her latest venture is nothing short of a full-scale fashion war. The Euphoria actress, 28, is throwing everything she has behind Syrn, her lingerie label backed by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, and insiders say she has one very specific target in mind: Kim Kardashian's Skims.
Over the weekend, Sweeney posted a promotional video to Syrn's Instagram account that quickly racked up attention. Shot in a relaxed, intimate style, she's seen lying on a bed wearing the brand's Lowdown Cami and Confidential Hipster in the shade "Date Night" — a brown, skin-toned set designed for seamless layering. Styled with loose waves and peachy makeup, she turns the camera to her face and pouts before breaking into a smile, all understated allure and confident ease. The caption read: "Date Night with Syd."
A Billion-Dollar Dream
Syrn launched in January this year, with Sweeney modelling the pieces herself from the very beginning. The brand is built around four distinct moods — Comfy, Playful, Romantic and Seductress — and has already expanded to include a sheer lace collection called Somewhere Only We Know, launched in February, as well as an Old Hollywood-inspired campaign for the Seduction Lightly Lined Plunge Bra, an £89 black floral lace piece that became one of the most-discussed images from the shoot.
But it's the ambition behind the label that's really turning heads. A source close to Sweeney told The Sun that she is acutely aware of the territory she's entering — and entirely unbothered by it.
"Sydney wants to dethrone Kim — she knows she has the potential to make enormous money and turn Syrn into a multi-billion-dollar company, like Skims. She sees this as a competition and she loves that challenge."
Kim Kardashian co-founded Skims in 2019, and what began as a shapewear label has since grown into a global lifestyle brand valued at $5 billion (roughly £3.9 billion). It is, by any measure, a formidable benchmark. But according to those close to Sweeney, she was warned off entering the space — including by people in Kim's own circle — and simply ignored them.
Her Own Terms
What sets Syrn apart, at least in Sweeney's own framing, is its refusal to flatten women into a single identity. "I wanted to create a place where women can move between all the different versions of who we are," she wrote in a brand statement at launch. "I love working on cars, I go water skiing, I'll dress up for the red carpet then go home to snuggle my dogs. I'm not one thing, no woman is."
It's a brand philosophy that also bleeds into her wider entertainment profile. Sweeney wore Syrn's Date Night Satin Corset on screen during the Season 3 premiere of Euphoria, in a scene that doubled as a very natural product placement moment — though perhaps not the most orthodox one, given she was dressed as a dog at the time.
Life Beyond the Brand
Away from the boardroom ambitions, Sweeney's personal life appears to be in equally high spirits. She was recently spotted in Sydney, Australia — her namesake city — with boyfriend Scooter Braun, the music industry heavyweight and manager. The couple were photographed in openly affectionate form, with Sweeney at one point wrapping her legs around Braun as he carried her through the streets. The pair began dating last September, having first met at Jeff Bezos's wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Italy two months prior — a detail that, given Bezos's role in funding Syrn, gives their origin story an enjoyably full-circle quality.
Whether Sweeney can genuinely challenge Skims on a commercial scale remains to be seen. Building a billion-dollar fashion brand is an entirely different proposition to starring in one — but then again, so was launching a lingerie label in the first place. And she did that anyway.
