Clothes & the Kardashians

The most famous family in the world loves clothes, at home at every Fashion Week and now also shows there themselves. Kourtney, Khloé, Kim, Kendall, and Kylie on the secret behind their success: clothes, from the market to Paris.

The Kardashians cover the entire spectrum with their style, from sexy Miami to Paris Fashion Week. Since the family started their reality series on television in 2007, thousands of clothing items have been featured. “Come on, we’re girls,” says Khloé. “From the moment we could sit, we were already tearing sweaters out of each other’s hands. Looking good has always been a bonding factor for us. When Kim, Kourtney, and I went out as teenagers, we prepared as if we were going to the Oscars. Fashion is fun, it’s a way to express yourself and a way to feel strong and sexy. In good jeans with a nice jacket, you walk differently than in a baggy sweater or sweatpants. Let’s all acknowledge that: clothing does something to you.”

Calabasas glamour

And clothing does something to the bank account of the K’s, which consists of mother Kris (61) and daughters Khloé (32), Kourtney (38), and Kim (36) from Robert Kardashian, and Kris’ second set Kendall (21) and Kylie (19) with Bruce Jenner, now known as Caitlyn Jenner (67). It all started with Kim, who came into the picture as a personal shopper and stylist for Paris Hilton when Hilton made waves with ‘The Simple Life’. Paris’ sidekick was Nicole Richie, who lent her styling talents to Kim and Paris and later founded the fashion label House of Harlow.

After learning the art of reality TV making from Paris, ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ came into being. And with it, an almost endless series of endorsements and their own businesses in beauty, makeup, accessories, and clothing. Early in the series, Kourtney opened Smooch stores with Kris selling children’s clothing, later the three oldest sisters started the chain DASH together, where they sell labels like Hudson, Capulet, and Juicy Couture, but also their own collections that are not for wallflowers: tight short skirts, bold prints, bandage dresses, and leopard, a lot of leopard. “We grew up in Los Angeles,” says Kim. “L.A. is not so beige, right?”

Something for everyone

The fact that the sisters“ fashion sense has become so immensely popular has several reasons. To begin with, their own collections are reasonably affordable: a top from the Kendall + Kylie collection is $35, a jumpsuit $119. Moreover, it is wearable: you can wear it to college or to work. Furthermore, the sisters all look great in their very different skins. Khloé is a tall, strong amazon, Kourtney is on the small side. Kim has always proudly showcased her feminine curves, Kendall is tall and slim, and Kylie is a bit more voluptuous. ”You can find all sorts of things from the Kardashians,“ says Riccardo Tisci, formerly of Givenchy, ”but the fact is that as sisters, especially in the early years of their success, they made a huge contribution to a more diverse image of female beauty.”

Sibling bickering

“I think Khloé’s style is the most popular because it’s comfortable and representative,” says Kim. “Kourtney’s taste is more incoherent, a bit more boho. It suits her, but I can’t wear it. And I love quirky things that many people wouldn’t dare to try, and I understand that. But I don’t have a life where I can easily hop in and out of a bus.”

“Kim sometimes confuses dressing up with performance art,” says Kourtney, “but she has raised the fashion bar and pushed us all out of our comfort zones. That’s good, because especially as a mother, you quickly fall back on a sort of uniform of clothing items that you keep wearing due to lack of time. It’s good to vary more, to dare to try a different look. Personal style is good; style boredom makes no one happy. “Shake things up,” my mother always says.”

Momager mode

The mother in question is Kris, a well-preserved sixty-something (“Plastic surgery is the best invention ever!”) and momager with a closet full of black, red, and white. “Leggings, pure white blouses, and blazers, that’s the look that fits my lifestyle,” says Kris. “I’m not as interested in fashion as my daughters, never have been. Too busy for that. I’ve always invested in good quality and reasonably timeless designs. The goal is to look good, but not too frumpy or too young, because both are sad. If I go too far, I immediately get harsh criticism from five sides. My daughters‘ style… I can enjoy it, but I can also laugh at it sometimes. It’s fun that all five are such real individuals. As a mother, I sometimes think: ’Seriously?” But they are adults, they make their own choices. And I reserve the right to roll my eyes about it occasionally.”

Kourtney: retro Miami

For example, about Kourtney and Scott Disick’s on-again, off-again relationship that produced three children. Or about Kourtney’s love for ‘everything transparent’. “And especially everything short with high heels,” says Kourtney herself. “If you’re as small as I am, you can’t wear long things.” She mixes faux fur jackets with jeans that mainly consist of tears, and sometimes an ethnically embroidered tunic or something with fringes from a Mexican market comes by. In her closet, a lot of Love X Labels, Brashy Studios, Camilla and Mark, and I.D. Sarrieri. She is the most ‘Miami’ of the sisters, with funky Zimmermann pants and pink Cavalli minis. “I don’t have much expensive designer wear,” she says, “but I do have a bag from Chanel and a couple of sunglasses from Saint Laurent. You have to mix it a bit; I will never dress from head to toe in one label, but I’m also not as casual as Khloé.”

Khloé: casual tight

Khloé uses her Hermès Birkins as a shopper, gym bag, and travel bag and combines her Good American jeans with Louboutins. “I don’t present myself differently than I am,” she says. “People have come to know me as an open book. I would like to say that I don’t care what people think about it, but if one Instagram post gets five thousand comments, there are always negative ones in there, and those are the ones I remember, of course.”

In 2015, Khloé lost 15 kilos with the help of a lot of fitness. “I didn’t do it to fit into a smaller size,” she says. “I had the same stylist for years, who – unlike other stylists – never made me feel like I was fat.” She wears a lot of Versace, The Weeknd, or Dsquared2, but as Kim says: “Khloé, that’s jeans with holes and a Birkin.” Khloé agrees. “I don’t have the patience to spend a long time thinking about what I wear. I used to wear tight clothes, and I still do. You will always have body shamers.”

L.A. babe: Kylie

Half-sister Kylie throws body shamers under the bus without hesitation. “Trolls have too much time and no life,” she says. “I’ve accepted that it comes with being on TV. I work hard, I keep all my appointments, you can like it, you can dislike me – I have no influence over that. But I post my photos hoping that people will see them, and in doing so, I naturally maintain the attention myself. That’s what you do when you’re your own brand.”

As a brand, Kylie is all ‘Young L.A.’: thigh-high boots, crop tops, velvet tracksuits, shorts, rainbow hair, latex dresses, a lot of athleisure from P.E Nation, Cotton Citizen, and Vetements, bags from Gucci and Vuitton. “I love cute and cool,” she says. “I find inspiration from fashion blogs and Tumblr.” Not from her sisters? “I’m not a Kardashian but a Jenner, and our tastes really differ. None of my sisters see the humor in blue hair and glitter. And I love Kendall, but to use the street as a catwalk?”

Haute Kendall

Kendall is the breakout babe of the clan and the only serious competition for the star of the family: Kim. For the latter, it must be sour that despite intensive efforts, she is still not seen as a haute fashionista, while her half-sister, despite criticism of her ‘dead eyes’, is on speed dial as a model for everyone; from Chanel to Victoria’s Secret. Thanks to the body of a human giraffe and a thriving Instagram account that allows her followers to live along and single-handedly brought back the choker. All the free publicity that Kendall manages to garner makes her an attractive partner to collaborate with. “Her reach on social media is unprecedented,” says Francisco Costa, who previously worked for Calvin Klein. “As a fashion house, you become part of that culture by embracing someone like her.”

Styling per city

“I love a good statement piece,” says Kendall. “Of all of us, I think I’m the most introverted, but fashion has become a way for me to express myself. I get to showcase such beautiful clothing that sometimes I fall in love with it. As a child, I didn’t care about clothes and makeup; I was only focused on horses. Now I have so many clothes that it’s embarrassing. I get a lot and I buy too much; I’ve never worn half of it. Every two months, I clean out my closet, and a week later, it’s already a mess again. But to be honest, I often wear the same thing: black jeans, a Balenciaga biker jacket, a white T-shirt, and my favorite bag from Givenchy. Perfect for New York and Paris, maybe a bit overdressed for L.A.”

Floral sofa

Earlier this year, the collection she created with Kylie was first seen at New York Fashion Week. “A great honor and very exciting,” says Kendall. “There are typical Kendall pieces, like the white T-shirt with the built-in lace bralette. Something like the bodysuit with the hood is completely Kylie. I’m obsessed with basics; Kylie is behind the Levi’s with huge safety pins. Fashion is not elevated for us; a silk dress is worn with sneakers, an oversized cardigan, or a bomber jacket. I could only have made this collection with Kylie.” Which is a bit of a dig at Kim, who often has the tendency to surrender herself completely to a designer, with varying results. Going to the Met Gala pregnant like a floral sofa from Riccardo Tisci didn’t do her any good, just like curtains, pink latex, lip readers, and dresses like skin-colored tights visually present quite a challenge.

Agent Provocateur

Kim’s current look is largely determined by her husband Kanye West (see box), who introduced her to the world of Balmain and Givenchy. And who made short work of Kim’s old wardrobe, which consisted of a lot of color and fun: she turned a sweater into a dress with a belt, brought back white boots and bags, and was the queen of the colorful maxi that could be danced in. Quite different from things like the ‘nude vegan leather dress’ in which she now glides by.

“My taste has evolved,” says Kim. “I’ve met and appreciated a lot of people from the fashion world, which influences me and is part of my personal development as a mother and a brand. It can rub a bit against what people expect. Kanye has given me more confidence about my body and my position. I’m famous; my empire is built on my celebrity – why not give people a good reason to talk about me?”

Oh yes, what you also want to know about the family…

They have Fashion Friends

Kylie is BFFs with ‘body positive’ model Jordyn Woods, and Kendall is close with distant cousins Gigi and Bella Hadid, with whom she works a lot. Kris is friends with Gigi and Bella’s mother and former model Yolanda Foster. The latter was also in ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ with Kim and Kyle Richards (aunts of Paris and Nicky Hilton, frenemies of Kim & co). Kourtney is good friends with Stacey Bendet of Alice + Olivia, and Kim, finally, has a close bond with Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, who considers her like a sister: “She is the one who makes fashion less elitist.”

Is Kanye crazy, or is he a genius?

In 2009, hip-hop phenomenon Kanye entered the fashion world by launching Nike Air Yeezys, followed by shoes for Louis Vuitton, Giuseppe Zanotti, and Bape. Since 2012, he has been working on Yeezy athleisure collections, which are presented megalomaniacally as performance art and mainly seem to consist of boring full-body Spanx. As the Washington Post concluded: “Fame is easy; making good clothes is hard.”

The stylist left

Monica Rose was the stylist who kept the Kardashians fashionable for ten years until recently when contact was broken and all the K’s unfollowed her on social media. What happened? “I hadn’t worked with Monica for about four years, since Kanye assembled a new team for my makeover,” says Kim. “I needed a new vibe. You have to ask the others.” Based on tweets from Khloé, it has to do with a business disagreement about ‘stealing’ and leaving it to ‘God or the judge’.

Kardashians do the K’s

As long as the Kardashians are in the fashion world, they have also been followed by rumors about clothing workshops in low-wage countries where the women who produce their collections are exploited. The latest scandal is attributed to Khloé again, who allegedly copied Destiney Bleus Dazzle one-on-one for her Good American collection. Oh dear…

PR geniuses

The Kardashians don’t need the media; their own reach via socials is worth many times more for any designer who collaborates with them.

In order of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter:

Kylie 94.8 million 19.8 million 21.5 million

Kendall 81.5 million 15.8 million 22.3 million

Khloé 67.9 million 18.7 million 23.9 million

Kim 100+ million 29.1 million 53.2 million

Kourtney 57.7 million 15.3 million 22.4 million

Text: Isabel Bos, sources: Keeping Up With The Kardashians, New York Magazine, W, WSJ, InStyle.