Kendall Jenner has claimed the title of the highest paid-model in the world for the past two years. Forbes reported that the reality star raked in a whopping USD22.5 million dollars for the year 2018 which bolstered her net worth tremendously. The 24-year-old has walked in high-profile shows, partnered with big names like Burberry and Calvin Klein and did a number of commercial shoots throughout her modelling career. Nevertheless, critics feel that she does not deserve the term supermodel.
So what is the criteria to be called a supermodel? The term gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s and a supermodel has international recognition, has usually worked for high-profile names and designers and is highly-paid. Jenner has met all the criteria so why do critics think otherwise? Prior to becoming a model, she had a huge fan base. She has millions of fans internationally even before she started modelling. From a young age, Jenner had a lot of fans due to the hit reality TV show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Critics feel that if Jenner did not come from a famous family, she would not be as successful today. They also argued about Jenner earning the title of supermodel on Instagram. The reality star was recently featured on the cover of Architectural Design and was given a spread in the magazine. A video home tour spanning 11 minutes was included. Architectural Design posted photos on social media and referred to Jenner as “supermodel, Kendall Jenner”. Fans were happy to glimpse into her home but critics were not impressed.
“Supermodel?! Seriously ??? She is only a model because she had a ton of plastic surgery and came from the Kardashian clan. She has zero style, zero movement, zero je ne sai quoi. Compare her to Cindy, Carla, Naomi, Linda, Claudia and the rest … it’s positively embarrassing to see this,” one adamant critic wrote about Jenner in the comment section.
“She’s a supermodel now. How much did Kris pay you to say that,” another critic chimed in, citing Jenner’s mom and manager, Kris Jenner. “Yeah, it’s actually difficult to find a model with less charisma than her. But I do think her new lip fillers look good on her,” another person added.
“Her face is super empty and her eyes are super dull. She couldn’t look more uninteresting if she tried. She’s got absolutely nothing over hundreds and thousands of young tall pretty girls you see everywhere, with more personality,” yet another Instagram user penned, discrediting Jenner’s supermodel status. “Seriously. If she had to compete for real, she wouldn’t last a New York minute,” another person chimed in.
The debate on whether Jenner qualifies as a supermodel is likely to go on.