Kim Kardashian has fulfilled a career highlight by posing on the cover of French Vogue and she used this empowering moment to take a pop at her ex, Kanye West.
Marking a time of freedom, Kim, 44, modelled topless for the October editorial and spoke about how she has become her most ‘confident’ yet.
Kim finalised her divorce from Kanye, 48, three years ago and pointedly told Vogue: ‘When I turned forty, my mother told me the coming years would be the best of my life. And it’s true—only over the past three or four years have I gained this confidence.
‘Before, I constantly needed to check with someone before making a decision. Can you imagine? It’s crazy to rely so much on others’ opinions. Today, I know exactly what I want. It’s exhilarating.’
Kim credits her relationship with fashion as a key source in improving her confidence and highlights Demna (former Artistic Director of Balenciaga) as a key figure.
She said: ‘I think it was with Demna that things really changed. He doesn’t care what people think, so I learned to do the same.’
Kim embodies many lives at once: mother of four, billionaire, fashion icon, social media phenomenon with 335 million followers, businesswoman, law graduate, and now actress.
She talks about how she navigates her way around her busy life as a mother and businesswoman, keeping a list of goals.
‘I’ve always had a list of goals, you know, like a list of things you want to do before you die,’ she said.
‘Magazine covers are definitely one of them, and this one has always been at the top of the list. The fact that it happened, it’s crazy for me. It’s so special.
‘But the truth is, when you’re a mother, and especially a mother of four, organization is everything.’
Kim’s daily routine more down to earth than you might imagine, with the hands-on mum barely getting a moment to herself.
She said: ‘I wake up my children, when they are not the ones who wake me up. We get dressed, I prepare breakfast for them and then I accompany each of them to school. It’s real chaos, but organized chaos.
‘And we laugh a lot! I love the time we spend together. Luckily, because I do this every day. Truth be told, I almost never have time for myself.
‘Although coming to France to do the shoot allowed me to be alone. I cherish these sacred moments, even if they only last for the duration of a plane flight.
‘That’s okay. There will come a time when my children will be grown, they will have left home and I will have so much time alone that I will probably be sad.’
She continued|: ‘In the meantime, I like to come home from work, find them in my bed and be able to snuggle up with them. Also, since I just graduated, a lot of my time has been freed up. Even if I have recently devoted it to acting…
Kim stars in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming series All’s Fair, premiering this autumnb on Disney+.
The acclaimed showrunner, known for dark hits like Dahmer and The Watcher, directed Kim as Allura Grant, a divorce lawyer leading an all-female law firm.
Kim said: ‘Ryan knows exactly what he wants and makes sure he gets it. He doesn’t let you fail. That really helped me because I had never done this before.
‘And when you know you’ll be acting alongside incredible talents like Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, and Niecy Nash, it can be intimidating.
‘But I’m not the type to feel nervous. I just did what I had to do. I arrived on set determined to be very professional and well-prepared. I was ready to learn. Ryan gave me this opportunity, and I thought it would be foolish not to seize it.’
In this special high jewllery issue of Vogue, Kim appears almost without makeup, draped in some of the world’s most precious jewels, revealing a pure and timeless side of herself.
The use of jewels is especially poignant given that she was the victim of a $10 million robbery in Paris back in October 2016.
The $4million engagement ring from her ex-husband, Kanye was never recovered.
The ringleader and seven members of a gang that tied up and robbed the billionaire reality TV star were found guilty by a Paris court back in May.
During her new interview, Kim talks about her successful business, SKIMS, and says: ‘From the start, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted, and I was lucky enough to bring it to life.
‘My team trusts me. They always listen to my ideas… even when I told them about slimming face masks! Some might have thought it was ridiculous, but they worked hard to make it happen.’
The full interview and portfolio are available now on vogue.fr. The October 2025 issue of Vogue France hits newsstands on Wednesday, September 24.
