Profile in Hustle: The Kardashian Women

The family that everyone loves to hate is unconditionally unapologetic. 

L.A. artist Plastic Jesus recently posted several signs around Hollywood reading “No Kardashian Parking.” Joke’s on him – a little half-baked criticism is nothing to one of the most powerful families to ever grace our television screens.

The over-the-top dramatic reality show that tracks their daily life, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” recently entered its tenth season, drawing in up to four million viewers per episode – and it’s just been renewed for three more years and $80 million. Its’ popularity resulted in three spinoff series, “K and K Take,” “Kim & Kourtney Take Miami,” and “Khloé & Lamar,” and the forthcoming “Dash Dolls.”

Of course, they’re a target of criticism because of the family’s unsavory push into the limelight: Middle sister Kim’s sex tape. To criticize them for that is absurd: Someone else leaked it and she had true hustler’s intuition to take advantage of a bad situation and pivot it into a multi-million dollar empire. Her game, “Kim Kardashian Hollywood,”earned $43 million in the third quarter of 2014 alone. And up next, she’s releasing “Selfish,” becoming the first person to convince others to shell out for a high-end coffee table book of her selfies.

Sisters Kourtney and Khloe and matriarch Kris are just as comfortable in the limelight, and together all three sisters have a boutique clothing line, D-A-S-H. The interest in fashion runs to the younger women in the family. Kendall and Kylie Jenner (from the Kris Kardahsian-Bruce Jenner marriage), are budding supermodels (the former is in the running to be part of the 2015 Maxim Hot 100).

The Kardashian clan is the very definition of DGAF – and love them or hate them, they’ve managed to hustle their way into the public fascination.

Photos by Timothy White / E!