Kim Kardashian's next star turn is in a Paris courtroom
The ageing French underworld figures accused of tying her up and threatening her with a gun in the heist during Paris Fashion Week in 2016 reportedly did not know who she really was.
Yet few under 50 on the planet with a smartphone could have escaped the rise of one of the world's most famous influencers over the last two decades.
Kardashian has been a constant presence in popular culture, an uber-celebrity whose every move commands attention, yet who never seems to be anything other than in complete control.
While lesser stars have been consumed by fame, Kardashian remains at the height of her powers, defying criticism that she is really only famous for being famous.
It is thought Kardashian's frequent posts about her wealth, personal life and whereabouts may have helped put the robbers on her trail.
When they burst into her exclusive Paris suite they shouted that they wanted the $4-million (3.5-million euro) diamond engagement her now ex-husband, US rapper Kayne West, gave her, and that she had shown off on social media.
Fame
Los Angeles-born Kardashian, 44, spent her childhood on the periphery of fame.
Her mother Kris married the 1976 Olympic decathlon winner then known as Bruce Jenner, who has since transitioned to life as Caitlyn, after divorcing her late father Robert Kardashian.
He was one of the high-flying lawyers who defended American football legend OJ Simpson in his 1995 murder trial.
As a teenage friend of Los Angeles socialites Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton, Kardashian garnered the first inklings of her own fame, being photographed with them at popular nightspots and appearing in their reality show "The Simple Life."
But it was in 2007 that she was catapulted into popular consciousness when an explicit four-year-old home movie she had made with her then-boyfriend singer Ray J was posted online.
Cynics noted the tape appeared as Kardashian and her family were readying to promote "Keeping up with the Kardashians," a fly-on-the-wall reality TV look at the family's life of wealth, luxury, unbelievable cattiness -- and startling mundanity.
Planted or not, the footage burned Kardashian onto the public's collective retina.
"Keeping up with the Kardashians," which followed the personal and professional trials of sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe and their half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, was one of television's longest-running reality shows.
For some, it was must-see entertainment offering an insight into celebrity through the prism of a unique family.
For others, as The Washington Times once wrote, it was vapid chaff that "illustrates our nation's moral, spiritual and cultural decay."
Either way, the show was very, very good for business.
A series of enterprises including KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance established Kardashian as a serious player in the fashion and lifestyle sector, propelled by the rise of social media, where she regularly posted titillating thirst traps to build her brand.
But it was the apparel label Skims that really brought in the big bucks.
The firm unapologetically celebrates the female form, boasting "technically constructed shapewear that enhances your curves."
A 2023 investment round valued the company at $4 billion, and Forbes estimates Kardashian's personal net worth is now $1.7 billion.
Marriage to Kanye... and divorce
Her forays into the fashion and beauty worlds were supercharged by her relationship with West, her third husband.
Their marriage in 2014 -- the year of that "Break the Internet" photoshoot involving her shapely bare buttocks and lots of champagne -- was a "historic blizzard of celebrity," according to The New York Times.
They flew to France for a pre-wedding rehearsal at the Palace of Versailles, where they arrived in a gold-plated carriage before flying on to Italy to tie the knot.
Four children later, the couple's relationship ran into difficulties, as West's behavior became increasingly erratic.
His bizarre but truncated 2020 bid for the US presidency degenerated into rambling self-confession.
Kardashian appealed for empathy for her husband, who at one time spoke of living with bipolar disorder, but by 2021 was filing for divorce.
Kardashian said she has tried to protect the couple's children from the inevitable hurt of their parents' split.
"You want to be sensitive because they're just kids, and it's hard to go through no matter what age," she told GQ in 2023.
"Ultimately what matters is that kids feel loved and heard."
They are certainly seen: Kardashian's 357 million Instagram followers are given regular updates on the children.
Since her split with West, Kardashian had a high-profile romance with comedian Pete Davidson, and was linked to NFL player Odell Beckham Jr.
Amid the parenting, the television shows, the endless red carpets and the multi-billion-dollar business, Kardashian has also found time to launch a legal career.
After embarking on an apprenticeship with a prison reform group, she successfully petitioned US President Donald Trump to pardon a grandmother serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense -- and then visited him at the White House.
In 2021 and on her fourth attempt, she passed California's "baby bar" exam, a seven-hour slog for first-year law students with a pass rate of only around 20 percent.
Her late father, she mused, "would be so proud."
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
16 hours ago
- LeMonde
How an American mom is now part of my (French mom's) life
The more I think about it, the more I realize one of Instagram's unique features is the way it brings public figures into our private lives. Not just as celebrities gracing glossy magazine covers. Of course, I remember historic paparazzi moments: François Hollande on his scooter date, Jacques Chirac naked on the balcony of the Brégançon presidential summer residence, Kate Middleton sunbathing topless on another balcony, Britney Spears with her shaved head. Those were all glimpses into the private lives of public figures, obviously, but they were rare instances. And the private sphere was blown into the public by the media, in the traditionnal sense of the term, as an intermediary. Instagram people are a bit different. They really are with us. For one thing, they live inside our phones, so they're here all the time. For another, because of the way the Meta platform algorithm works, when you scroll through the app, you get an endless feed of close friends, strangers with whom you have much in common, ads and, of course, public figures. All these people are part of our daily lives, creating a strange mirror effect that erases the media as an intermediary: they reveal their own private and sometimes mundane moments as we sit in our living rooms, in bed or even in the bathroom. These recurring characters can quickly create a kind of artificial familiarity. This is how, the other night, while brushing my teeth, I told my partner, almost as if I were talking about a coworker or a friend, "Hey, Isabelle Bertolami is pregnant!" He asked how old her eldest was and where she would give birth. In short, a typical parent conversation, except for one small detail: neither of us has ever met Isabelle Bertolami. She's an American living in Aix-en-Provence with her husband and daughter, documenting her family life for her 242,000 followers. The American myth of the French mom Bertolami is what we call an Instagram American mom: mothers who praise the French parenting model, without too much concern with avoiding generalizations or ensuring accuracy. It's a way of feeding the American myth of the French mom: the mother who is both gentle and strict, attentive but not indulgent with a tyrannical child, fulfilled in her career, always impeccably dressed and manicured (she writes, typing with chipped nails).
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Fashion Network
Casablanca opens first Paris store, plans spaces in LA, London, and skiwear line
Casablanca has taken a step it describes as 'decisive' by opening its first brick-and-mortar store. The French label, launched in 2018 by French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer, has set up shop in Paris, where it has been showing since January 2019, and where it has managed to establish itself as one of the up-and-coming names in ready-to-wear. Casablanca's first store is located in the French capital's luxury shopping district, on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. Casablanca has opened its flagship almost at one end of the prestigious thoroughfare, at number 62, on the corner with rue d'Aguesseau. The premises extend over nearly 460 square metres on three levels, and were previously home to an art gallery. The interiors are the brainchild of designer Charaf Tajer and the label's creative director Steve Grimes, working in collaboration with London-based design agency Counterfeit Studio and Moroccan architecture studio Elements Lab. The décor reflects 'a fusion between the past and the future, between Parisian elegance, cinema references and a bold, forward-looking vision,' said Casablanca in a press release. Originally, Casablanca focused on menswear, and made a name for itself with uber-chic looks featuring vibrant prints and fine fabrics, borrowing both from the sporting world, notably tennis, and from retro glamour. Soon the label added women's ready-to-wear, broadening its assortment by introducing a range of accessories, including leather goods, footwear and sneakers, scarves, socks and hats. The label's Parisian store showcases all these categories, spread out across each level within Casablanca's various collections. The atmosphere inside the store is decidedly cheerful and warm, with an almost pop-art feel. The furnishings are characterised by rounded and geometric shapes and by Casablanca's signature sunny palette — red, green and Mediterranean blue. The décor combines different styles and materials, using various types of marble, metal, lacquered wood, walls in white wood and others with mouldings and arched niches, velvet, mosaic, and metal and glass tinted in multiple shades for the display cabinets. After Paris, Casablanca will open in July in Los Angeles, at 469 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills. The label, which has dropped several collaborations in recent years, with Bulgari, Caviar Kaspia, ST Dupont and Nordstrom among others, is distributed via its e-shop and 350 multibrand retailers worldwide. It has recently opened shop-in-shops at Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdale's in Dubai, and at KaDeWe in Berlin, and further shop-in-shops are on the cards in London, at Selfridges in September and Harrods in November. Casablanca also operates seasonal pop-up stores, like the space open for two months at Le Bon Marché in Paris, decked out like a beach club. This season, the label has established a presence also at the Mandarin Oriental in Bodrum (Turkey), and will open temporary stores at Tahiti Beach on the French Riviera in July, at the Fashion Clinic Comporta store in Cavalhal, Portugal, in August, and at the Atlantis The Royal hotel in Dubai, in partnership with the Ounass e-shop. Another project Casablanca is busy on is the autumn launch of a first skiwear capsule collection, produced in partnership with Swiss brand Faction Skis. It will be presented in November via pop-up spaces at Harrods in London and Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris, as well as in top Alpine resorts such as Verbier and Gstaad in Switzerland. Casablanca is backed by an investor and has moved its headquarters to London. In 2024, it generated a revenue of €45 million, and is expecting to reach €60 million for 2025, growing by more than 30%. Casablanca has been led since 2023 by Frederick Lukoff, and employs 140 people. The label has been posting double-digit annual growth on a regular basis. Sales for its e-shop have notably soared, recording a triple-digit rise this year. With this first Paris opening, Tajer is relishing Casablanca's success. 'When my parents arrived in France, my mother was working as a housekeeper, so me setting up a fashion house was the last thing that could be expected. Then, five or six years ago, I said: 'I want a corner in this street', and everyone told me it was impossible, because all the locations were taken by the top labels. Opening this store is a huge achievement for us: It feels like coming home.'
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Fashion Network
First-ever Hermès Birkin handbag to be auctioned in Paris in July
The first Birkin handbag, designed especially for Jane Birkin in 1984, will be auctioned in Paris on July 10, the last day of Haute Couture Week, announced auction house Sotheby's on Thursday. The large black leather tote, the original version of one of the world's most celebrated and expensive handbags, will be the 'signature item' in Sotheby's 'Fashion Icons' auction, as Sotheby's said in a press release. The handbag will be exhibited to the public at Sotheby's gallery in New York on June 6-12, ahead of its final presentation at the auction house's Parisian offices in the 8th arrondissement, on July 3-9. The 'historic handmade prototype,' engraved with the initials J.B., is distinctive for several peculiarities that make it a unique piece: its size, the closed metal rings, the non-detachable shoulder strap, and the incorporated nail clipper. Jane Birkin was undoubtedly a fashion icon, but she was keen on practicality above all. On a Paris to London flight, the British singer-actress, who died in 2023, complained with a fellow passenger of not being able to find a handbag that fit the needs of a young mother. The fellow passenger was none other than Jean-Louis Dumas, then boss of Hermès. A tote bag with a pouch for baby bottles was launched by Hermès in 1984, and was named Birkin. Forty years later, the Birkin leather handbag has become the French luxury house's most iconic product. It is manufactured in very small quantities to foster its exclusive image. Its prices can vary greatly, from a few thousand euro for the simplest models, to several hundred thousand euros for the most luxurious ones. In addition to the Birkin handbag, the auction will feature iconic items from runway shows by designers such as Christian Dior, John Galliano, Thierry Mugler and Alexander McQueen. The auction will start online from June 26, and will continue until the closing date of July 10.
