KIM GETS WAISTED

Up close. Undone. Decadent. Strapped in. Breathless. Kim does corsets and answers our take on the Marcel Proust questionnaire. Interview by Alison Veness. Styled by Christine Centenera. Photographed by Lachlan Bailey.

Kim has a shapely body, and so it seemed only natural that we would invite her to lace up in a beautiful corset and accentuate those curves even more, all worn back with the simplicity of a T-shirt, modern déshabillé. This idea had come to fruition before the onslaught of the corsets for autumn/winter ’16/’17 – with fashion director Christine Centenera commissioning about 10 corsets to be made specifically for Kim. And it seemed a good idea, but it did mean that she had to go on a fairly stringent diet post-Saint for Vogue. But Kim is dedicated, determined, a straight shooter, incredibly polite and hard-working. Once she had North settled at her home in Los Angeles, we were in the clear. She liked the 1890 reference and sense of history colliding for this interview – and of keeping it to the point. (After the Vogue sitting with Lachlan Bailey in New York, she was off to Iceland with Kanye to see the northern lights, which she explained they had been waiting to see for such a long time and which would feature in one of Kanye’s upcoming videos.)

Vogue: Your favourite virtue? Kim Kardashian West: [Long pause] “Patience.” Vogue: Your favourite qualities in a man? KKW: “Hmm, there are so many … I really think having a sense of humour is important.” Vogue: Your favourite qualities in a woman? KKW: “Someone who is, just, who is … how do I explain it? You can tell when someone is kind, and not competing with you.” Vogue: Your chief characteristic? KKW: “I think I am pretty compassionate and people around me know that.” Vogue: What you appreciate the most in your friends? KKW: “Loyalty.” Vogue: Your main fault? KKW: “There are so many, hard to think … gosh, I mean, maybe I’m a bit stubborn.” Vogue: Your favourite occupation? KKW: “I love the beauty business, of course, but I’m fascinated by lawyers and the business of law. I’ll stick with that.” Vogue: Your idea of happiness? KKW: “Family.” Vogue: Your idea of misery? KKW: “Misery is so subjective, this is a hard one … for me, though, it is when I don’t have any sleep, I feel miserable.” Vogue: If not yourself, who would you be? KKW: “I would love to be a forensic investigator and live a normal life.” Vogue: Where you would like to live? KKW: “Not just saying this because we are doing this interview – I do love Australia and Sydney – but I would live in New York.” Vogue: Your favourite colour and flower? KKW: “Probably like a blush colour, or a neutral colour. I’ve never been huge on bright colour. My favourite flower would be either jasmine or gardenia.” Vogue: Your favourite bird? KKW: “Maybe an owl. We used to have an owl that would sit outside of my room when I was little and it would sit in the big trees and make noises and I would try to find it at night with my dad.” Vogue: Your favourite prose authors? KKW: “Hmm, I don’t know, it’s hard, I mean, I haven’t been reading books in a long time, but the types used to be self-help but not now. I still love Embraced by the Light by Betty J. Eadie, the story about a woman who had passed away and came back to life, about an experience she had in the 1970s. My dad gave it to me.” Vogue: Your favourite poets? KKW: “My husband; he used to write poems on my birthday cards.” Vogue: Your favourite heroes and heroines in fiction? KKW: “To be honest, I was raised on TV shows, so my fiction was Strawberry Shortcake and Punky Brewster.” Vogue: Your favourite painters and composers? KKW: “At home we have some George Condo and Wes Lang. But I feel like I like simple art. I think Basquait is cool, but I never really had a particular favourite. And a composer? My husband.” Vogue: Your heroes in real life? KKW: “My dad was, for sure. I love that he was always so honest about family. You know, that’s something I really looked up to.” Vogue: Your favourite heroines in real life? KKW: “Obviously, my mum. Once you become a mother, you have a new-found respect for people who have gone through it – especially knowing my mum has had six [children]; that’s so intense for me. I want to live her life and be successful, work hard and still have so many kids – and still take care of everyone else.” Vogue: Your heroines in world history? KKW: “Marie-Antoinette. And since I’ve travelled the world, I feel like I have more of an interest in history, in places, but never just with one.” Vogue: Your favourite food and drink? KKW: “I feel like I’ve been so good dieting that nothing excites me the way it did, except for beignets from New Orleans – and powdered sugar doughnuts, which I’m obsessed with. My favourite drink … there has gotta be something exciting that I love … I’m not that big on alcohol, but it’s fun and in Paris there is this restaurant called Ferdi and they have this strawberry fruity drink. I think if I could have anything and not worry about the calories, it would be a pina colada with fresh strawberries.” Vogue: Your favourite names? KKW: “North and Saint.” Vogue: What you hate the most? KKW: “I hate when I read really sad stories that involve children, any crimes and incest. It makes me so sad.” Vogue: World history characters you hate the most? KKW: “Osama bin Laden or Hitler.” Vogue: The military event you admire the most? KKW: “I went to a Marine Corps dinner with someone random, which was fun and interesting. I always find it fascinating – in Dubai I went on a military ship – and the stories, the individuals, talking to them about their travels, how long they are gone for and all that. It’s a tough life, it really is.” Vogue: The reform you admire the most? KKW: “Rights – gay rights, equality, so many different things have been passed in our time.” Vogue: The natural talent you would like to be gifted with? KKW: “I would love to have a good voice.” Vogue: How do you wish to die? KKW: “In my sleep.” Vogue: Your present state of mind?

KKW: “I’m pretty happy. Calm.” Vogue: For what fault have you most toleration? KKW: “I don’t tolerate laziness or lying, dishonesty – so to tolerate (something) … back in the day, people would lie and you would just go for it. When you are young, you would believe them – but not intentionally knowing you were forgiving them.” Vogue: Your favourite motto? KKW: “Truly do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Vogue: Your favourite word? KKW: “Love.” Vogue: Your least favourite word? KKW: “Lame. I say it a lot but don’t like it.” Vogue: What turns you on? KKW: “Physically, a good body.” Vogue: What turns you off? KKW: “Bad hygiene.” Vogue: The sound or noise you love? KKW: “I get really happy when I hear my daughter waking up in the morning and hearing her voice.” Vogue: The sound or noise you hate? KKW: “Construction noise really bothers me.” Vogue: Your favourite curse word? KKW: “Fuck.” Vogue: A sin you would like to confess to? KKW: “I cheated on my diet before a fucking Vogue shoot!” Vogue: Biggest challenge of motherhood so far? KKW: “Two kids is a challenge, to balance the both of them.” Vogue: Is he a saint? KKW: “He lives up to his name like you would not believe.” Vogue: Is she true North? KKW: “She totally is.” Vogue: What terrifies you? KKW: “Anything happening to my kids.” Vogue: What thrills you? KKW: “A night out with my husband.” Vogue: What do millennials mean to you? KKW: “Youth and the future.” Vogue: Biggest lesson so far? KKW: “I think I learnt a lot about life and how temporary and fragile it is – my father passing away and being at an age when I understood it – and being really compassionate.” Vogue: Nicest thing anyone has ever done for you? KKW: “My husband got me pregnant. It’s brought me the most joy.” Vogue: Favourite Kimoji that you send? KKW: “One of the animated ones with the girl in fur and she’s dancing around in a bathing suit with a long fur.” Vogue: If there were no social media, how would you communicate with fellow mankind? KKW: “Not to the same level, but I used to send letters all the time to my friends. I would just do that.” Vogue: G-string or big knickers? KKW: “G-string.” Vogue: More or less? KKW: “More.” Vogue: If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? KKW: “Probably … ‘Here are the people you love.’”