Why Kendall Jenner's steering clear of Fashion Week runways

As an international supermodel, we’re all too used to seeing Kendall Jenner taking to the catwalk.

However, for Fashion Week, the 22-year-old is remaining firmly on the other side of the catwalk, making her first appearance at the fashion spectacle on Saturday by sitting front row at Longchamp.

This is a move that seems to echo Kendall’s stance on runway modelling lately: the model has taken a noticeable step back from the catwalks in recent few seasons, not walking a single show during February 2018’s autumn/winter season.

The reason? It’s something Kendall puts down to her ‘freak outs’.

Speaking about her decision to stay off the catwalks this NYFW, the model told W Magazine: “I try to keep myself cool. I go in and out of having freak-outs, so I just have to chill out and be by myself.

“Yesterday, I took a bath because I was really stressing out. I lit some candles, and, yeah.”

Kendall has been vocal about her struggles with anxiety and panic attacks in the past, even suffering one during an episode of ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians.’

“It’s always a bit different,” she said about attending Longchamp’s first-ever catwalk show. “It’s always fun to be on the other side of things and get to be on the other side of the craziness. I actually enjoy it. I love being able to see the collections when they are brand new.”

Back in August, Kendall Jenner was forced to apologise for comments she made about the modelling industry and the workload of her fellow models.

In an Instagram post by Love magazine, Kendall was quoted as saying: “Since the beginning we’ve been super selective about what shows I would do. I was never one of those girls who would do like 30 shows a season or whatever the f*** those girls do. More power to ’em.

“But I had a million jobs, not only catwalks but everything else. The whole combination was very overwhelming and I started to freak out a little bit and needed to take a step back.”

What followed was a backlash, with many of Kendall’s fellow models, with many saying her comments only highlight her privilege.

In reality, working models are likely to walk up to 80 shows a season– far more than Kendall’s suggested 30 – and are paid minimum.

Polish model Jac Jagaciak said of the comments, “This makes me so angry… So disrespectful to literally 99 percent of people in the industry—yes they had to work their way up. Please get in touch with the real world!”

Russian supermodel Daria Strokous echoed these sentiments, writing, “whatever [sic] the f*** those girls do’ is do their very best to make their way up AND try to make some money so that they can provide for themselves and their families,” adding, “Oh and it’s 70 shows a season by the way and we all are f***ing proud of every single one of the girls that did it.”

In response, Kendall directed a series of tweets towards her fellow models saying the “respect that I have for my peers is immeasurable”.

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