Strutting her stuff! Since kicking off her modeling career at just 14 years old, Kendall Jenner has become one of fashion’s most sought after runway stars.
Fans first learned of Jenner’s interest in modeling during season 4 of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. After expressing interest, Jenner’s older sister, Kim Kardashian, took her to walking lessons before the 818 Tequila founder signed with Wilhelmina Models in 2009. From there, Jenner booked her first gig with Forever 21 and appeared on the cover of American Cheerleader magazine in 2012.
The TV personality made her catwalk debut in Sherri Hill’s spring 2012 runway show during New York Fashion Week. “OMGGGG just finished my first ever runway show for @SherriHill,” Jenner tweeted at the time, adding the hashtags “#amazing #imaddictedtorunway!”
She hit an even bigger milestone in 2014 when she sashayed in the Marc Jacobs fall/winter show and was a must-see in a completely see-through sweater teamed with cropped pants and booties. In September 2022, Jenner opened up about the major moment, telling Vogue in an episode of the magazine’s “Life in Looks” series that she felt super “comfortable” despite her breasts being captured in the nipple-baring ensemble.
“I remember getting a call from my agent saying that Marc wanted to put me in this kind of sheer top, and I was like, ‘I’m game. I don’t mind. I’m all good with the nipple,’” the Hulu star said. “I was pretty chill even though my boobies were out. It didn’t make me any more nervous. I genuinely was just like, ‘Dope, whatever they want, it’s their vision, let’s do it.’ So, I was completely comfortable.”
Since then, Jenner has walked for Givenchy, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Fendi, Balmain, Chanel, Michael Kors, Versace, Ralph Lauren and more. She became the highest paid supermodel in 2017 and has maintained the title for several years.
The California native conquered another major fashion moment in February 2022 when she walked in Prada’s fall/winter 2022 show during Paris Fashion Week, which was documented in season 2 of The Kardashians. For the big day, Jenner dyed her signature brunette locks red and strutted down the aisle in a feather-adorned puffer coat and a sparkly skirt.
Despite so many career highs, Jenner also experienced her fair share of career lows. “There was a long period of time, I’d say the core five years of it, that I was extremely overworked,” she said during a September 2022 episode of the “On Purpose” podcast.
Jenner continued: “[I wasn’t] my happiest — not because I wasn’t doing what I loved, but just because I was overwhelmed and I felt like I was saying ‘yes’ to everything because I felt really, really grateful and really honored to be in the position. So, I was always saying ‘yes’ and it just took a lot out of me to the point where I just wasn’t happy anymore. And so, I had to set those boundaries for myself.”
She explained that she’s since learned to say “no” and can now “show up better for myself and I can show up a better person for the people that get to be around me that day and that I work with on that day.”
Keep scrolling to see Kendall Jenner’s best runway moments: