By Jessie Kohlman
In the midst of the Kendall no-last-name takeover of NYFW, Sunday Times Style released the newest addition to the Kardashian/Balmain love affair. The shoot features the second youngest Kardashian clan member cozying up with fashion protege and Balmain’s 27-year-old Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing.
In their joint interview Kendall and Olivier discuss the merging of the fashion world with Hollywood, the return of the supermodel, and why you’ll never be a part of the #BalmainArmy.
According to Kendall, her pursuit of her modelling career is actually her attempt to distance herself from her family’s celebrity and remove herself from the spotlight. Her recent decision to drop her last name supports this. She talks about her decision to ask Kim to not sit front row at her first NYFW show last February when she walked for Marc Jacobs. “I’m doing this for me, on my own. God, I love my family, but this is my thing, it’s me.”
Olivier seems less concerned with keeping Kendall’s celebrity life separate from her modelling career. Part of the genius of the new Balmain Army campaign is its utilization of models and superstars alike. Olivier sees his role much differently than most Creative Directors. “You don’t work just for fashion. You work for an idea and ideology of world. That’s why I want to bring fashion back to pop.” His choices to feature pop phenomenons like Rihanna or Kim Kardashian or Peter Brant have modernized Balmain and made the label fierce and relevant again.
Kendall is the perfect addition to his team. When Olivier says, “you can’t get more pop than Kendall Jenner” you know he’s totally right. With her 13 million instagram followers (she gained a million from the time the article was written) Kendall is the face of our “selfie” generation. Along with Cara, Karlie, and Joan, Kendall is bringing back the concept of the supermodel. You can’t make it anymore as just a pretty face. Models are expected to have social media presence that reflect their personalities. We want to be familiar with them, go backstage at the shows, see their realities.
Love or hate her and her family, all you can do is sit back and watch the Kendall reality-star-turned-supermodel-fashion-industry takeover continue.