Kim Kardashian West shocked fans when she announced that Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the reality show that propelled her and her entire family to fame, would be coming to an end. Kardashian West said in a statement, “After what will be 14 years, 20 seasons, hundreds of episodes and numerous spin-off shows, we are beyond grateful to all of you who’ve watched us for all of these years. . . Without Keeping Up with The Kardashians, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who has watched and supported me and my family these past 14 incredible years.” The show’s last season will air in early 2021.
The end of the long-running series—which premiered in 2007, and continued to be one of E!’s most highest-rated shows, even up until this year—certainly marks the end of an era in American reality TV. After all, the show propelled the family from relative obscurity to the tippity top of the A List. As the Kardashian-Jenners grew more and more famous, their wardrobes improved and became more heightened in tandem. But the family’s transition into fashion royalty didn’t happen overnight. It happened over more than a decade—a slow burn that, eventually, did thrust them into global superstardom and landed them in the front rows of many fashion weeks.
Robert, Kris, Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian arrive at Kim Kardashian's Birthday Party at Les Deux on October 21, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo: Noel Vasquez via Getty Images
At the beginning of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kim was the star of the show, and her style perfectly exemplified what the late-2000s was all about. In a recent Vogue video, Kardashian West said of that time, “I lived in Juicy [Couture]. It was either a dress and heels or Juicy and Havaianas; that’s what I wore every day to walk up and down Robertson Boulevard.” The sisters followed the same style code early on. In the season one title theme, for instance, Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, Kendall, and Kylie wear tight, bodycon dresses in sequins or satin. The outfits they wore in the show were more so meant to create memorable TV moments versus memorable style ones. Remember when Kim famously took selfies in giant bug-eyed sunglasses while Khloe was heading to serve jail time? (“Kim, would you stop taking pictures of yourself, your sister is going to jail,” says Kris.) Their early outfits were often also strategically tied to their family boutique, Dash. The girls would wear pieces from their stores and film inside them, such as when Khloé dealt with vandalism in a bedazzled hoodie.
When Kim met her husband Kanye West around 2012, her style changed. There’s a whole episode in season seven where he comes over and cleans out her closet, telling her that the makeover will now land her on “best-dressed lists.” (He was right). Out went the sky-high Louboutins and tight dresses, in came the plastic mules and a muted color palette of beige, black, and white. Probably the most dramatic before-and-after reflection of Kim’s style transformation is comparing her wedding dress to Kris Humphries (a traditional strapless, tulle-skirt Vera Wang) versus her wedding dress to Kanye (a sleek lacey Givenchy Haute Couture gown with sleeves). A new style star was born.
Soon after Kim’s evolution, her sisters all began upping their fashion game and mirroring this new aesthetic as well. They began rocking more streetwear-minded outfits on the show, including tons of Yeezy pieces, Kanye’s label. Even so, Kim always pulled rank as the main style star, often criticizing her sisters’ outfit choice. “I can’t even eat dinner because I’m so disgusted with my sisters’ crazy outfits,” she said in one episode, where they travel to Japan together.)
Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner attend Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 at Madison Square Garden on February 11, 2016 in New York City.
Photo: Kevin Mazur via Getty Images
Along with their new fashion makeovers, episodes began revolving around the sisters’ trips to fashion week or event launches, and their glam rooms and fitting processes began playing a bigger and bigger role in the show. At the same time, the younger sisters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, began forming as young adults and foraying into the fashion world on their own as well, which brought a whole new element to the series.
And of course, the sisters had help in creating their new aesthetic. In the recent years of Keeping Up, Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie started working with top stylists to craft looks specifically for the show. (A tactic that is not new in the world of reality TV styling.) The women began rocking fresh-off-the-runway pieces for their tapings. As a result, their fashion choices got even more divisive, too—especially Kim’s polarizing athleticwear, such as spandex bike shorts. “I got roasted on [bike shorts]…. And of course, everyone was wearing it two years later,” Kardashian West told Vogue.
Now, the sisters leave the show with a clear “Kardashian” look in their rearview mirror. Close your eyes, and you can still envision it: it usually involves a plastic heel, an athletic-style outfit or vintage tube dress, and a neutral color palette. As they now each have their own brand deals and partnerships (not to mention millions of followers), it’s clear that all of the Kardashian sisters have had a big influence in the fashion world, and this will continue on well outside of Keeping Up. Kim has her own line of shape wear, Skims; Kendall is currently the face of labels such as Burberry and Stuart Weitzman; Kourtney has her own lifestyle blog, Poosh; Khloé has a denim label Good American; and Kylie her own beauty empire. All this meaning, you’ll still be keeping up with the Kardashians and their fashion choices. Just outside of your TV screen.
Previously published on Vogue US
Editor
Christian Allaire
