5 Trends Kylie Jenner Made Popular
There's no denying Kylie Jenner's ability to make or break a trend. Remember that time in 2018 when Jenner pretty much killed Snapchat? "Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad," she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. That very same day, Vox reported that Snapchat's stock dropped by 6%, which was equivalent to as much as $1.6 billion being knocked off the app's value. Ouch.
The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"-turned-"The Kardashians" star is one of the most influential people in the world, boasting 400 million followers on Instagram alone at the time of writing. People all over the world have openly paid close attention to Jenner's style choices, including several who spoke to The Guardian about how they closely study her outfits to find affordable dupes for themselves. It's little surprise that Jenner was named of one Time's most influential people on the internet in 2018, and is largely credited for being at the forefront of some of the biggest trends we've seen over the past few years. Here are some of those big trends she's had a hand in popularizing.
Kylie Jenner's big lips caused a whole social media trend
When you think Kylie Jenner, you probably think lips. Jenner's pout has been highly talked about over the years, so much so there was a social media trend in 2015 that saw people attempting to artificially make their lips bigger. The dangerous fad saw people putting their lips into bottles and using suction to make their lips swollen. Many professionals spoke out against the trend, explaining it had very real dangers.
Jenner never publicly endorsed the trend, but the star has made a lot of cash by offering a safer way to make lips look larger. In 2015 the star launched her own cosmetics company, Kylie Cosmetics, which began with her notorious Lip Kits. Jenner's lip offerings were so popular she revealed on Snapchat that Google Analytics crashed trying to track the numbers. Heck, she even had us learning new tricks to overline our lips.
Jenner later confirmed she'd gotten lip filler, after which the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported a 53% increase in people getting lip augmentations in 2016 compared to 2000. That's something Dr. Simon Ourian, who gave Jenner her filler, put down to "The Kardashians" star. "When she first talked about her minimal cosmetic procedures I saw a new trend of younger women who suddenly felt empowered to unapologetically want to look more beautiful. It's like Kylie singlehandedly gave a whole generation the ticket to a more enhanced version of themselves," he told WWD.
Matte nude lips also got super popular
It's not just big, overlined lips that Kylie Jenner helped make popular. The color and texture she put on her pout also made for a big trend across the globe. Though Jenner has a range of lipsticks, liners, and glosses via Kylie Cosmetics and changes up her lip color now and then, she's arguably best known for wearing a very specific and very matte nude shade. Particularly in the early days of Kylie Cosmetics.
Jenner liked to show off her sheenless lip on social media and beyond between 2015 and 2016. That just so happens to be the same time that searches for the style spiked online. Elle reported that Polyvore's 2016 trend report named Jenner as the most influential star when it came to both fashion and beauty that year (no surprise there) — and that was reflected in the numbers. Searches for nude lipstick increased by 553% compared to 2015, while searches for matte lipstick (à la the specific style offered by Jenner's early Lip Kits) had risen 267%.
Pink hair saw a huge spike in searches after Kylie rocked it
Though she certainly wasn't the first person in the world to rock pink hair, Kylie Jenner appeared helped spark interest in the hue again. In January 2024, Jenner (who we know is partial to changing things up via a wig or two) posted a viral TikTok video that showed her rocking a light pink look alongside the caption, "heard its 2014 vibes this year." And the internet pretty much lost its mind.
At the time of writing, Jenner's TikTok video has more than 5.8 million likes and has been viewed more than 33.6 million times. Citing Google Trends and Fresha data, Highxtar Beauty reported that searches for pink dye increased 1,443% after the video was uploaded. And we're not just talking in the U.S.; Those searches spiked worldwide, proving Jenner has the power to take a trend global.
Though it's not clear if they were directly influenced by Jenner's hair change, in the weeks that followed Jenner's video, we saw several other celebrities sporting pink hair, including Meghan Fox, Ciara, and Shania Twain. Emirates Woman also included pink hair on its list of 2024 hair trends, explicitly citing Jenner's look as the reason so many people were going pink. Now that's power.
Athleisure really hit the big time thanks to Kylie Jenner (and her sisters)
Another trend Kylie Jenner really embraced has to be athleisure. Jenner, as well as her famous sisters Kim, Khloé, Kourtney Kardashian, and Kendall Jenner, have all rocked some sporty looks over the years. And we arguably have them to thank partly for the Sporty Spice athletic fashion trend resurgence.
Jenner in particular has been spotted making sporty clothing more street-appropriate over the years, like in February when she rocked a black sports bra, black leggings, long white socks, and sneakers for some sultry Instagram shots. Or how could we forget about that time on Instagram in 2019 when she matched her luminous green sneakers to her luminous green bikini? Jenner's even getting her daughter, Stormi, in on the action, as Jenner revealed on Instagram Stories in 2018 that her then 1-month-old daughter had been gifted several Adidas tracksuits.
With Kylie and her sisters still at the helm of the athleisure trend, it seems like this look is only going to get more popular. Gitnux reported that the athleisure market value will be worth $517.5 billion by 2025, which is a huge 8.1% increase from 2019. And we can't help but feel like Jenner is at least somewhat responsible for some of that.
Kylie Jenner combined nail trends to make her own
In 2023, Kylie Jenner showed us just how well she knows her way around a trend by taking two hot nail looks and combining them into one. That style was known as pearl nails, which the reality star created by combining two super hot trends at the time, subtle milk nails and the more flashy chrome nails. Jenner shared a video on TikTok showing her getting a manicure (and she was wearing gloves for her gel appointment, by the way), and the video received more than 1.2 million likes.
Plenty of fans flooded the comments section by making it clear that they, too, would be adopting the trend that Jenner brought to their attention. "If Kylie gets pearl nails imma get pearl nails too," one person wrote. "This is how i'm getting my nails done," another person commented. Others even looked beyond the shade Jenner opted for and predicted everyone would be copying the shape of her nails next. "And now every woman in America will have square nails again," they wrote. There's no doubt Kylie Jenner is a total trendsetter.