Archive: Kylie Jenner on «Miss Vogue» October Issue 2014. We have updated the photos from the photoshoot to HQ, photographed by Columbine Goldsmith. Enjoy!

vogue.co.uk: From The Archive: When Vogue Met A 17-Year-Old Kylie Jenner

As Giles Hattersley notes in British Vogue’s September 2024 cover story, despite only being on the cusp of her 27th birthday, Kylie Jenner has been famous since before Gordon Brown left office. “I don’t really remember a time before there were the lights and the cameras,” she admits, with the first season of Keeping up With the Kardashians premiering shortly after she hit double digits. In the years since, she’s worn many different hats (and wigs), with Vogue first featuring her in October 2014, on the eve of her King Kylie era. At that point, she was better known for constantly switching up her hair colour than Kylie Lip Kits, counted a sci-fi novel among her recent projects, and boasted just 14.6 million followers across Instagram and Twitter compared to today’s 437.8 million. “I’m only 17 and I don’t have to have it all figured out right now,” she told journalist Evelyn Crowley at the time. A decade (and two children) later, and she’s well on her way to nailing it. As she graces her first British Vogue cover, revisit her 2014 shoot and interview in full, below.

When Kylie Jenner arrives at the Moroccan-style home in the Hollywood Hills for the day’s shoot, she’s so laid-back and unassuming that it takes a moment for the Miss Vogue team to realise there’s a Kardashian in their midst.

Simply dressed in an Opening Ceremony top and skinny leather Helmut Lang trousers, the 17-year-old Jenner, with her jet-black hair and vintage/rocker style, bears a faint resemblance to Joan Jett from The Runaways. “Like, I have so many leather jackets it’s a joke,” she grins. “And I wear a lot of dark colours.” In terms of accessories, her philosophy seems to be “the more the merrier”. To wit, she has a total of 10 ear piercings. And she’s taller than she appears in photographs – a misconception that’s arisen as she often poses next to her 5ft 10in sister, the model Kendall. Even more surprising, given the Kardashian clan’s fondness for make-up (Kim has been known to sport false eyelashes at the gym), Kylie is completely bare-faced, save for a touch of lip balm. And today the dip-dyed aqua tips she sported in her hair for Kim’s wedding are gone. “No one wanted me to do it for the wedding,” she admits, “but I have an addiction to changing my hair.” Her next look? “I might cut the front really short so I can mohawk it up!” In style terms, Kylie is clearly finding ways to stand out from the Kardashian pack.

For those who haven’t been Keeping Up with the family in the eight years since they first hit our radar, here’s a quick cheat sheet: there’s Kris, the media-savvy matriarch; 34-year-old Kourtney, the unflappable eldest daughter; Kim, 33, the prima donna; Khloé, 29, the wisecracker; and Kendall, the swan-like model. Kylie was just eight when the programme began – “I don’t even remember a time before we started filming the show” – and, by virtue of her youth, has been the most in the background (though this will surely change with her 18th birthday next summer).

“I think people like to watch us because they all have their favourite,” she says of the show’s insane popularity. She is fiercely close to each of her sisters, especially 19-year-old Kendall (“We balance each other out, she’s super shy and I’m super outgoing”), and Khloé, whom she likens to a second mum. “She helped raise us and was often the one to discipline us.” As for Kim? “We butt heads… but in a sisterly manner,” she says with a laugh, adding: “We like to succeed as a group, so we are never really jealous. We don’t want each other to fail.”

As much as she cherishes her Kardashian status, Jenner admits there was a period – around the age of 13 – when she thought about quitting Keeping Up With the Kardashians. “The paparazzi started following me and my sister. You’re growing up and trying to find yourself, but you have no room for mistakes,” she says, noting how she once made the gossip columns simply for getting a speeding ticket. In the end, she decided the good that came with doing the show outweighed the bad. Still, she knew that she would be sacrificing a lot of what it meant to be a normal teenager. She definitely has to be conscientious, “I don’t complain because I am grateful but, for sure, when I’m with my friends they can do a lot of stuff I can’t do.”

Fortunately, her sisters are always there to offer support. “If there’s a bad picture out, or just dumb media then we all support each other,” she says, in her sing-song accent with its hint of Valley Girl. “But it is different for us – Kendall and I are growing up in the spotlight. They had their adolescent years in private. Thank God I have Kendall because if I didn’t I’d probably flip out.”

When she does get time off, it’s important “to just chill and be with friends”, she explains, defining a “chill” night as one spent making banana pancakes and watching The Vampire Diaries on Apple TV (she doesn’t watch much terrestrial TV, often even missing her own Kardashian episodes). There’s also the occasional LA shopping spree in Barneys, Fred Segal or Opening Ceremony (normally in the Mercedes jeep to a soundtrack of current favourites, rapper Tink and R’n’B star Partynextdoor). Occasionally she’ll check out Melrose Avenue for vintage, although she’s careful to avoid the street’s many tattoo parlours. “I have a fear of getting a bad tattoo,” she explains. “I have dreams about this all the time.”

Kylie has clearly inherited her older siblings’ appetite for social media, and posts frequently to her Instagram and Twitter accounts (her combined followers total 14.6 million and counting). According to a recent online tally, she takes the most selfies of any of the Kardashians – but is surprisingly bashful when asked about it: “I just take them when I get my hair and make-up done,” she explains. “I guess it’s just when you’re feeling yourself.” Despite the selfies, she insists she has the same insecurities as any other teenager. “I hate getting my picture taken… If I look really cute then I don’t care, but no one goes out looking perfect all the time.” She has a toughness to her that can make her seem older than her years. Yet just when you’re ready to conclude that fame has jaded her, you catch Kylie in a moment (diving into a bag of crisps, texting with the nimbleness of a speed typer), that’s endearingly adolescent.

At present she lives in Calabasas with her mother. Kendall recently moved out into her own apartment. “I definitely miss her but I see her all the time. And I’ll start looking for my own place in six months.”

In the meantime, newlyweds Kim and Kanye, who are living in the Calabasas house until their own is completed, help keep her company. “We just do normal family stuff,” insists Jenner, when asked what it’s like to have two of the most photographed people in the world as roommates. “Sometimes I even babysit North.”

As for friends, Jenner, who has been homeschooled since 2012 due to the family’s hectic schedule, prefers to keep a small, close-knit circle. “I used to have, like, 10 girlfriends,” she says. “We’d all go to IHOP [a pancake restaurant chain] in the morning, stuff like that.” Now she has two close girlfriends, also homeschooled. Does she feel she has to be careful about who she lets into her life? “I definitely don’t make many friends,” she says carefully. “It’s my choice, I just have a wall; it’s not that I have anything against anyone.” Understandably, perhaps, she gravitates towards others who also live in the glare of publicity, counting Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber and actor Jaden Smith in her circle. “He’s my best friend,” says Jenner, when asked about the long-standing rumour she dates Smith. So what makes great boyfriend material? “Dark hair. Dark eyes,” she says, getting a dreamy look that makes us believe she’s telling the truth about her single status. “Someone to make me laugh.”

Meanwhile, the show goes on, and together with Kendall, she recently launched a shoe collection for Steve Madden, as well as a PacSun clothing line that takes its cues from the sisters’ breezy southern California lifestyle. Earlier this summer, the pair also published their young-adult sci-fi novel, Rebels: City of Indra, the Story of Lex and Livia. Then, of course, there’s Kalifornia-Klasss, Jenner’s public Tumblr, where you’ll find everything from inspirational quotes to fashion editorials.

Despite the pressure of her family’s success, Kylie isn’t in any rush to grow up. And this might explain why, when talk turns to her future career ambitions, she politely demurs. “I’m only 17 and I don’t have to have it all figured out right now,” she – quite correctly – points out. “I feel like I just have to wait for my time.”