Kim Kardashian Owes All Her Fashion Cred to Kanye West: "I Look Back at Outfits and I'm Mortified"

Let's call it what it is: divine intervention.

Kim Kardashian & Kanye West
(Image credit: Getty Images)

For Kim Kardashian, Keeping Up with the Kardashians will always be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it launched her $53-million-a-year career. On the other, it's a reminder that once upon a time she wore knit berets and salmon-hued bandage dresses. And no one is more aware of the sartorial skeletons in her closet than Kim herself.

"Back in the day, I thought I had the best style," she said told CNN Style. "I look back at outfits and I'm mortified. I remember one day, he brought me Carine Roitfeld's book and was like, 'You should be studying this book, this is the fashion bible.' I was like, 'Who's Carine?' I knew nothing, and he said, 'Watch, one day she's going to style you.'"

Kanye, Kim, Kris, and Carine sitting front row at Paris Fashion Week

Kanye, Kim, Kris, and Carine sitting front row at Paris Fashion Week

(Image credit: Getty Images)

And Yeezy isn't her only guardian angel in the wardrobe department, as Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci was willing to ignore the naysayers and take a chance on dressing Kardashian *before* she became a front row fixture.

"Riccardo is the first designer that took a chance on me," she said. "I'm so grateful that he saw a vision and was willing to dress me, because no other designers were at that time." 

While Kardashian's approach to ready-to-wear and couture can be brazen at times, we can't get enough of how refreshing it is to see a curvier physique donning creations we'd previously only seen on stereotypical Model Types. So props to Yeezy on his vision, because we firmly believe fresh-off-the-runway designs should be enjoyed by women of all sizes.

And while we feel for Kim—because really, who isn't haunted by tagged Facebook photos of yore—we can't help but reminisce with a #TBT #OOTD. Sorry, Kiki!

Kim Kardashian

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Beauty Editor

Lauren Valenti is Vogue’s former senior beauty editor. Her work has also appeared on ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, and in In Style. She graduated with a liberal arts degree from Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, with a concentration on Culture and Media Studies and a minor in Journalism.