Kris Jenner Reveals How Kendall Jenner First Got Involved with Victoria's Secret

Kendall Jenner made her Victoria's Secret Fashion Show debut in 2015, but she (and her mother, Kris) were already making connections with the brand years before that.

Kendall was only 15 when she told her mom it was her dream to become a Victoria's Secret Angel someday, designer Tommy Hilfiger recalled in a conversation with Kris Jenner at WWD's CEO Summit. So the Kardashian matriarch did what she could to make her daughter's dream a reality, but there was a problem—she didn't "know really anybody in the modeling industry," she revealed.

Kendall walks her first Victoria’s Secret show in 2015.

However, it was when she was on a flight home from New York that Kris found a way in. Jenner came across a documentary on renowned Victoria's Secret photographer, Russell James, whom she called "the guy who could really discover VS models." When she got home, she researched him, somehow found his phone number, and left him a voicemail where she told him about Kendall and asked to meet with him.

Eventually, James did call her back. Kris and the family were having lunch with her mother in San Diego—while filming Keeping Up with the Kardashians, no less—when the photographer returned her call. "This is Russell James and I would love to meet your daughter," Jenner recalled him saying on the phone. They set up a meeting with him and Kendall 10 days later at their house.

Jenner walking the VS Fashion Show in 2016.

"I said to Kendall, look, go upstairs and put on your cutest party dress," Kris remembered telling her daughter. "Brush your hair, put on your party shoes, and when he gets here, come downstairs." Kendall ultimately wore platform shoes, skinny jeans, and a cute top, but she made an impression on James nonetheless. "He said, 'You're right, she's beautiful, and I can't wait to work with her,'" Jenner said. James went on to shoot Kendall for his photography book, Angels, which released the year before her VS runway debut).

Jenner ultimately walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the first time in 2015, and returned in 2016. However, she won't be present for this year's show due to a conflicting contract with another lingerie brand she models for, La Perla.

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Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now. 

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