I
ndeed, Jenner’s success paints a compelling
picture of the beauty industry in 2018. Right now there
are likely boardrooms of beauty executives strategising
and decoding sales figures in an effort to recreate even
a fraction of the magic dust they’re sprinkling over
there at Kylie Cosmetics. But Jenner (and, of course,
her beyond-savvy mother, Kris) knows that the most
successful businesses set out to solve a problem. By
her own account, Jenner’s insecurity has long been
her lips. In an effort to make them appear plumper, she
began overdrawing them, caricature-style and filling
them in with lipsticks so punchy it was as if they were
tattooed in place. Jenner then began filling them with
heartier stuff, actual filler, in fact, which only inflated
the obsession (though not long after our shoot, she
replied to an Instagram comment, explaining she had
removed the fillers). Her lips became as synonymous
with brand Kylie as her sister Kim Kardashian West’s
derrière has been to her own image, and the impetus
for Kylie Cosmetics. All of this – the highs (and lows) of the spotlight, the
unparalleled business success and, of course,
motherhood – has distilled a maturity and self-
assuredness in Jenner that’s well beyond her years.
Like the now old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar store
fronts (which are also in the pipeline for Kylie
Cosmetics), the self-confident selfies and provocative
Snapchats she fires off daily are merely the glossy
frontage for an incredibly determined young woman
who is building – so far, extremely well – a multimillion-
dollar empire. Although she may be the closest thing to
a poster girl for an entire generation – a cohort largely
focused on the now – Jenner has her eyes firmly
concentrated on the future. And from here, it looks
bright.
In the time it took Jenner to refresh her website’s
browser – mere seconds – she had entirely sold out of
the brand’s first product, the now legendary Lip Kit.
The beginnings of her brand may not have been
entirely strategic, but there’s no denying it was
authentic. She and her sister, supermodel Kendall Jenner greet
each other through the phone. Kendall asks Kylie
about her niece's, Stormi, new present and whether
she liked it. They share a laugh and so the interview
begins.
21 year-old Jenner built a $900
million fortune in less than 3 years
and is set to become the youngest-
ever self-made billionaire.
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