14 DAY TRIAL // Kendall Jenner has almost made a complete and successful transition from mere reality star to supermodel, having already been featured on several magazine covers and in shows from some of the biggest designers out there. Oh but you have no idea how hard it was for her to get to where she is now!
To all those saying that she must have had it easy because she’s famous, rich, and comes from an equally famous and rich family, Kendall has this to say: you don’t know jack.
She claims that the kind of insane exposure she’s getting because she’s part of the Kardashian Klan, as well as their connections in showbiz, the fashion industry included, actually worked to her disadvantage because, when she decided that she wanted to become a model, she found only closed doors because no one would take her seriously.
And supermodels were, you see, her “superheroes.” There was nothing more she wanted but to become one. “I thought they were just magical, with sparks flying around them,” Kendall says in a new interview cited by NY Mag.
She wasn’t about to give up after the first try, so she determined she would work harder than anyone else if that’s what it took to break on the scene.
“I was like, ‘You know what? I want to be high fashion. I want to be taken seriously’... People think that this [success] just came to me. But it didn't. What I have has almost worked against me. I had to work even harder to get where I wanted because people didn't take me seriously as a model. Because of the TV show,” Kendall says.
“I went on castings and some people weren't feeling me because of my name. But it was great when people didn't recognize me. I was like, ‘Thank you. Please don't recognize me’,” she explains.
If the situation were reversed, and there’d be a regular, non-famous Jane in Kendall’s place, she would probably use the Kardashian name as a launching pad. But not Kendall, sister Kim Kardashian chimes in to stress.
“She had to work extra hard to gain this respect and to fight for people to see she's serious. Marc Jacobs gave her a real shot and treated her like any other model. He believed in her and opened the door for her. Then Riccardo and Karl gave her a chance and she has proven that she is the real deal. Her hard work paid off, and that makes me so proud,” Kim explains in the same interview.
Don’t be deceived. Kendall might have worked hard to convince industry people that she was serious about modeling and not just doing it on a whim, but it was her name and her connections that opened doors for her.
The Riccardo Kim mentions so casually is Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy, who just “happens” to be such a close friend of Kim’s husband Kanye that, at one point, there were even rumors they might be gay lovers, shacking up in a secret Paris apartment they’d bought together. It would be hard to believe Kanye had nothing to do with getting Kendall that job.
Similarly, Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld are designers who have close ties to Kim herself. Which older sister doesn’t want to help a younger sibling?