THE Kardashian clan are no strangers to sitting in the front row at the most fabulous fashion shows. But I gasped when images of Kylie Jenner posing on the Frow at Chanel’s Haute Couture show landed on my desk earlier this week. I wasn’t wowed by her cropped cream jacket and pleated mini skirt co-ord in the luxury brand’s signature tweed, nor by her small, iconic quilted bag or classic pumps. I was wowed by the fact that she was there.

Being at a Chanel runway show at Paris Fashion Week may not seem like a big deal, but, let me tell you, in the world of fashion it is a HUGE deal. Not only was Kylie in attendance, but she was also seated on the coveted front row — something her sisters have never achieved. This signals that she has finally been accepted by the fashion elite. But could her boyfriend, Timothee Chalamet have something to do with it?.

Truth be told, the “in” at Chanel is likely to have come from the half-French actor, in a round about way, at least. The 29-year-old, one of the most highly regarded actors of his generation, has been nominated for everything from the Oscars to Golden Globes, and is Kylie’s ticket to the top. The two started dating in 2023 and while they initially kept their romance under wraps, more recently they have been less shy about being seen together.

Kylie and Timothee have been spotted out and about on numerous occasions, including at the US Open tennis final last September, and the Golden Globes this month — which provided Kylie with a gereat opportunity to rub shoulders with Hollywood royalty. Credit where it’s due, Kylie is a success in her own right. She has made more than a billion dollars off the back of her cosmetics empire and has an army of dedicated fans who follow her every move.

But I can’t help but think that wildly successful actor Timothee, currently very watchable as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, has given her a little leg up, even if unintentionally. Timothee has the clout that Chanel respects — someone who is in the top tier of their industry, and that as a result has elevated Kylie. So why is her appearance at Paris Fashion Week so significant, you may ask?. Make no mistake, being sat on the front row is so important that many A-list stars will shun a fashion show altogether unless they snag it.

Make no mistake, being sat on the front row is so important that many A-list stars will shun a fashion show altogether unless they snag it. Sure, Kylie, 27, is no stranger to Fashion Week, or even the real elite event, Couture Week. Remember her on the catwalk in the famous Schiaparelli lion’s head dress in 2023 that turned heads?. Those were her baby steps into the big leagues. The truth is that, for a while, she’s been at the top of the list for many of fashion’s respected brands, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Balmain and Loewe.

And she closed the runway for Coperni at Disneyland last October. But Chanel? Chanel is different. Chanel is history, it is elegance, prestige and class — with snobbery chucked in for good measure. The brand packs its front row with those who are at the top of the game in their professional field, be it fashion editors, singers, actresses or models. Reality stars have, until now, been considered beneath that, including the members of her family, despite their wide-reaching fame.

Kylie’s big sister, Kim Kardashian, has been striving her whole life to be accepted by fashion’s elite yet she has never bagged herself a pew at Chanel. In fact, Karl Lagerfeld, the man who famously was at the helm of Chanel for 36 years, didn’t care too much for Kim, if reports are to be believed. He once even made her cry. They met in 2013 when Karl was booked as a photographer for industry mag The CR Fashion Book.

Even Vogue breathlessly declared Kylie had broken 'the Kardashian curse' with her Frow appearance at Chanel this week. Kim heard that the Chanel boss gifted its world-renowned handbags to models, but Karl actually handed one of the brand’s prized purses to her mum, Kris Jenner, who had arrived on the set of the photoshoot very on-message, dripping in Chanel from head-to-toe. After the snub, Kim later admitted the embarrassment made her run to the bathroom and start “hysterically crying”.

And when she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris three years later, Karl said he wasn’t “surprised” about the ordeal, sniping: “You cannot display your wealth and then be surprised that some people want to share it with you”, and “Image-wise, I think it’s very bad”. Kylie’s other sister Kendall did, however, manage to get her foot in the door at Chanel — but only as a hired model. The 29-year-old made her catwalk debut for the brand in 2015, also at Couture Week, and also managed to swing momager Kris a ticket to watch.