Kendall Jenner talks modeling: 'I wanted the attention to be on me'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Kendall Jenner says modeling helped her come into her own.

The 19-year-old reality star discussed her burgeoning career in an interview for the March issue of Allure. Jenner made her major runway debut for Marc Jacobs at New York Fashion Week in February 2014, and revealed she asked her famous half-siblings not to attend.

"I didn't need it to be a family affair," she explained. "As selfish as this sounds, I wanted the attention to be on me for five seconds rather than my family. If they were sitting front row, it would have been all about, 'Oh, Kim [Kardashian] goes to Kendall's first fashion show!'"

Jenner and her family came to fame on E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and regularly make headlines for their personal and professional lives. The teenager told the magazine modeling became a way to differentiate herself and simultaneously build her self-esteem.

"I still have a hard time looking at someone when I'm talking to them, and I get nervous," she admitted. "When I started getting in front of the camera a lot, I think my confidence started to come out. It took a minute, because I had to believe in myself."

Jenner has walked the runway for such brands as Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana, and landed campaigns with Estée Lauder and designer Karl Lagerfeld. The model recently expressed amazement at her rising star and return to New York Fashion Week in an interview with E! News.