When, exactly, did Kylie Jenner transform into the style star to watch? While she’s always been glamorous, with that high-low mix of Kardashian glitz (all: curve-hugging loungewear and more-is-more evening gowns), you might have noticed her emerge from the pandemic looking more avant-garde than her sisters, and evolving into the fashion It-girl of Calabasas. Now the internet-breaking highlight of any fashion week FROW, you can thank her mysterious, Midwestern stylists – two sisters, of course – Alexandra and Mackenzie Grandquist for her looks.
“Our mom always laughs because she’s like, ‘You guys played with Barbies until you were like 15, and you’re still playing with Barbie, basically,’” Mackenzie giggles. The first thing you do feel chatting to the duo is how much fun they’re having. Zero self-seriousness or pretension, the two are sweet, sincere and so open, yet different in a way that complements the other. Often finishing each others sentences, Mackenzie talks a mile-a-minute, excitedly speaking over her more meditative elder sister: “She’s super chilled, doesn’t get stressed out about anything, and I’m a little more intense, I guess, and aggressive, and whatever… Wait, what was the question?”
The question was whether they feel the pressure of styling a woman with 400 million followers on Instagram alone – a woman so influential she can get body parts to trend, let alone clothes, and, since adolescence, has pipped the once-mononymous popstar (whose career spans longer than the now-26-year-old has been alive) for first-name recognition. “We don’t really think about the pressure – since we have each other it balances everything.” It gives them an edge in their work, Alexandra elaborates: “Mack is really good at finding vintage and more… I don’t wanna say grungy, but more of the funky, personality style. I’m more of the classic, minimal style.”
Their unique blended outlook took Jenner from someone who was only really exposed to either “the Fashion Novas, or the Bottegas” to one of the most cutting-edge fashion trailblazers. “When we started with her, it almost seemed like she wasn’t fully exposed to what’s all out there,” says Mackenzie. “Or, maybe just not as experimental. She wouldn’t wear Margiela – or even Acne.” They eased her out of any comfort zone. “We’ll keep pushing, like, ‘Please try this on, please try it on.’ Finally she’ll try it on, and she’s like, obsessed.” The comfort that Kylie exudes in even the most extreme couture is down to three years of practice. “She really knows how to [style] stuff [herself] now.”
Alexandra pinpoints a vintage green cone-bra Jean Paul Gaultier dress in 2022 during Paris Fashion Week as the biggest turning point. “Yes! That was with Travis,” gushes Mackenzie. “And Stormi went and we made that little Bottega outfit for her!” When creating a complementary mother-daughter outfit, it helps that the six-year-old is also a style maven in the making. “She has swag,” they beam. When Kylie has a clothes clear-out, they head to a tailor to recycle pieces into outfits for Stormi, or shrink denim for her two-year-old son, Aire.
The two aren’t just tasked with Kylie’s big moments, but her entire wardrobe. On top of pulling for shoots or red carpets, they put together a weekly rail in her house. “We just did 10 outfits for everyday life, meetings, going to the office, going to dinners… trips!” For custom couture, they’ll often send fashion houses ultra-specific four-page PDFs, and go back and forth on edits. But, some designers are telepathic. “Daniel Roseberry is very special,” Mackenzie effuses. “It seems like he sees what we do, so he usually has one sketch with a story behind it, and every time we’re literally like, no notes, it’s perfect. It’s like he’s in our brain.”
Maybe that’s why some of her most jaw-dropping moments have been Schiaparelli – the lion look (chosen by Roseberry for Kylie because she’s a Leo) or that rib-crushing Jessica Rabbit-esque silver gown, created to channel the morning after an Old Hollywood actress had a wild night out. With its built-in corset and key-hole cut-out, “it just snatched her in.” Was it padded? “No! Those were her hips! It just looked padded because of how small the waist got. In the car, we had to loosen it. It was really, really, really tight.”
From a small town in Iowa, they each moved to LA after high school. Versed in sewing and pattern-making, they started their celebrity styling journey with Travis Scott. Back then, they had to sell their furniture to fit all the clothes in their makeshift studio. Living on the busy Fairfax Avenue, “we couldn’t even open our blinds – it was a dark cave of clothes.” Ahead of a family shoot with Stormi, Travis casually asked them to bring clothes for Kylie, too. “It was so last minute, we were freaking out.”
In the 12 hours they had, they gathered what they could. “I don’t even think she wore anything, or we really talked to her.” But, her assistant got in touch after, asking if they’d make a moodboard for the coming year: 2021. “Over the holidays, we spent so many hours putting together this 50-page PDF,” they laugh. “She was obsessed.” Juggling both at first, Kylie organically became the focus. They don’t have time to take on anyone else. “It’s almost like having a child.”
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They rabbit-hole on Vogue Runway, Pinterest and Are.na, but find the best inspiration in fashion libraries. Currently, for Kylie’s everyday, they like to combine ripped tees and vintage Levi’s with shoes from Miu Miu or Saint Laurent, and love the new brand Helsa. “We’re super over crop tops right now.” They namecheck MM6, Wardrobe.NYC and Entire Studios for the comfy, practical capsules they create for themselves. “Sometimes at shows, we’re like, ‘Why don’t I look cuter?’ But I’m working until midnight and then up at 6am,” sighs Mackenzie. “The uniform is all I can think of right now.”
As one of the most-dissected people in the world, “you have this perception around [Kylie] and what the media says,” Alexandra says. “I was like, ‘Oh, God, I don’t know what to expect… But she’s amazing.” Mackenzie agrees: “Such a good heart and great sense of humour… Life’s too short – I don’t want to work with bitches!” Alexandra cackles. “No divas!” A perfectionist herself, “in the glam chair, everything’s super serious. We’re all silent and focused. Then the event will happen and we go back to goofing around.”
They don’t believe in one-size-fits-all advice. Do what suits you, they say, “instead of putting something on because you saw Hailey Bieber wear it.” Rihanna might be able to pull off tonnes of jewellery, they explain, but “if we do something like that [on Kylie], it’s gonna look so forced,” says MacKenzie. “Also, it’s cool to wear nothing,” MacKenzie says. Alexandra agrees: “Our friend said [jewellery] makes her look weird, and we were like, ‘It actually does!’ It’s too much for some people.”
They’re proponents for staples to fall back on, referencing how in the ’90s, stars, including Kris Jenner, would rewear the same red-carpet looks, but now even their 20-year-old little sister (who is soon to join the team) gets stressed choosing an outfit to go out in. “Rewearing is so cool… It should be more normalised,” says Mackenzie. “Stop overthinking, let’s just have a good time!”
