A few weeks ago, Kendall Jenner did what Kendall Jenner does best: she swanned around the streets of NYC wearing some nifty designer duds, in an outfit engineered to single handedly revitalize the imperiled street style industry. This time, though, these weren't just any designer duds-Jenner was wearing a fit of awe-inspiring proportion courtesy of The Row, the Olsen-founded powerhouse of unassuming luxury.
© Getty ImagesKendall Jenner in New York, April 27, 2021.
"Famous young woman wears clothing popular among famous young women" doesn't exactly sound surprising. What is surprising is just how much Jenner's outfit pulls from the most exciting menswear of the moment, and how good-how elegant, even-it comes across out in the wild. The aspiring tequila mogul's look-a button-up, positively '90s in volume, open and loose over a plain white tee tucked into navel-grazing pleated trousers that fell, with a full break, over kitten-heel sandals-happens to be one of our favorites from the The Row's Spring 21 collection, described elsewhere in these pages as "quiet, perfectly-cut clothing that treats gender as almost besides the point." Jenner's latest outing marks something of a hot streak: right now, she's wearing everything we're jonesing to.
© Getty ImagesKendall Jenner in New York, April 26, 2021.
For the most part, Jenner's outfits are made up of pieces you already own, or have seriously considered owning, and then worn with a casual mastery born from years spent under the harsh scrutiny of the public eye. There she was in late April, stepping out in a broad-shouldered blazer and slinky leather trousers. In March, she blessed the streets with a funky sweater vest, baggy green fatigues, and chunky loafers. And way back in November she was spotted on the move in a crisp white shirt and gently-tailored cream trousers, an outfit that hints at high-end origins without screaming "My sweater is $2,000 vicuna."
© MEGA / Getty ImagesKendall Jenner in New York, March 21, 2021.
And sure, if you could fill your closet with The Row, you would. But there's more to it than that. Any putz with a summer bonus to blow can buy as much designer clothing as his credit limit will allow. But money can't buy an intuitive understanding of silhouette and proportion. And Jenner is putting on a masterclass in the type of roomy, forgiving clothes that have been bubbling up in the menswear zeitgeist for a while now, buoyed by a burgeoning appreciation for the relaxed tailoring and understated color palettes of the '90s. In the get-ups spotlighted here, she harnesses the formidable power of vintage Armani-mixed with a touch of Big Oxford-era Ralph Lauren-via outfits that seem destined to end up on moodboards wistfully nostalgizing 2020s fashion a few decades from now.
© Raymond Hall / Getty ImagesKendall Jenner in New York, November 20, 2020.
Simple, comfortable, and supremely easy, Jenner's recent string of outfits largely shirk the eye-grabbing aesthetics of typical IG fit pic fare (though, inevitably, that's where they end up). Perhaps the most potent sign of her influence? Her good taste appears to be contagious. Devin Booker, the Suns shooting guard and Jenner's beau, was recently snapped by her side rocking a roomy, all-black outfit with some ante-upping rare Jordans.
Friends, countrymen, fellow menswear enthusiasts: consider the gauntlet thrown. Wondering what to wear as the world slowly stands up, dusts itself off, and limps back to normalcy? We'll have what Kendall's having.