
Kendall Jenner on fashion insiders who 'outright laughed at me'
Though it's hard to watch a high-profile runway show or open a magazine without seeing Kendall Jenner these days, it wasn't always so for the modelling world’s current superstar. The 19-year-old recently revealed the resistance she faced when trying to turn her dreams into a reality.
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“You have no idea how many doors closed on me,” she told V magazine. “And how many adults were initially reluctant to take a chance working with me or who outright laughed at me behind my back.
Luckily for Kendall, a few designers took notice and she made her Fashion Week debut last year walking for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Chanel, firmly establishing herself as a model to be taken seriously.
“I am so gratefyl to Marc Jacobs, Riccardo Tisci, Karl Lagerfeld and Katie Grand, who took a chance on me that first season and gave me an opportunity,” she said. “My parents taught me that work ethic is one of the most important keys in life, and I believe it.”
Since that first season, Kendall has gone on to walk for major brands such as Balmain, as well as landing a highly-coveted Calvin Klein campaign.
“It’s really humbling, and honestly, I am a pretty shy person, but being part of the Calvin campaign and seeing myself up there [on billboards] will be a dream come true,” she said.
The young star was catapulted to global fame from a young age thanks to her family's reality TV show Keeping up with the Kardashians, however she has previously revealed that her fame was more of a hindrance than a help when it came to wanting to be taken seriously in the world of fashion.
“People think this success just came to me, but it didn't,” she said. “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.”