Heidi Klum
Encyclopedia
Heidi Samuel better known by her birth name Heidi Klum, is a German model, actress, television host, businesswoman, fashion designer, television producer
, and occasional singer. In 2008 she became an American citizen while maintaining her native German citizenship. She is married to English musician Seal
with whom she shares the legal last name, Samuel.
, a town outside Cologne
, by her German parents Günther, a cosmetics-company executive, and Erna, a hairdresser. A friend persuaded her to enroll in a national modeling contest called "Model 92". Out of 25,000 contestants, Klum was voted the winner on April 29, 1992 and offered a modeling contract worth US$300,000 by Thomas Zeumer, CEO of Metropolitan Models New York. As the winner, she appeared on the Gottschalk Late Night Show, a top German television show with host Thomas Gottschalk
. She accepted the contract a few months later after graduating from school and decided not to try for an apprentice position at a fashion design school.
filmed at the Parsons New School of Fashion.
Heidi Klum has been featured on the covers of Vogue
, Elle, and Marie Claire
. She became widely known after appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
and for her work with Victoria's Secret
as an "Angel". Klum has hosted the 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows. On October 1, 2010, the New York Post
reported on its page six gossip column that Heidi Klum would be leaving Victoria's Secret, which was later confirmed by Klum.
In addition to working with well known photographers on her first husband's Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object and subject of Joanne Gair
body painting
works in several editions from 1997 to 2010. She wrote the foreword
to Gair's book of body paint work Body Painting, Masterpieces. She was a spokesmodel for McDonald's, Braun
, Dannon, H & M, and Liz Claiborne
, among others. She is currently a celebrity spokesmodel for Jordache
and Volkswagen
. In addition to modeling, she has appeared in several TV shows, including Spin City
, Sex and the City
, Yes, Dear, and How I Met Your Mother
. She had a role as an ill-tempered hair model in the movie Blow Dry
, played a giantess in the movie Ella Enchanted
and was cast as Ursula Andress
in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
. She had cameo appearances in The Devil Wears Prada
and Perfect Stranger.
Her other projects include dance and video games. She is featured in the 2006 James Bond
video game Everything or Nothing
, where she plays the villain Dr. Katya Nadanova. She has appeared in several music videos, including Jamiroquai
's video "Love Foolosophy
" from their album A Funk Odyssey
, Kelis
's "Young, Fresh n' New
", off her second 2001 album Wanderland
and, most recently, the second video for her husband Seal
's song "Secret" off his 2010 album Seal 6: Commitment
. The latter video depicts the married couple sharing intimate moments while naked in bed; the concept was Klum's idea.
In July 2007, having earned $8 million in the previous 16 months, Klum was named by Forbes
as third on the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. In 2008, Forbes estimated her income at $18 million, putting Klum in first place. For 2007, Forbes estimated her income at $16 million. Klum is signed to IMG Models
in New York City.
In 2008, Klum was a featured guest on an American Volkswagen
commercial, where she was interviewed by a black Beetle
. When she commented that German engineering is so sexy, she caused the Beetle to blush and turn red. She has been a part of several commercials for Volkswagen and McDonald's on German television.
In November 2008, Klum appeared in two versions of a Guitar Hero World Tour
commercial, where she did a take on Tom Cruise
's iconic underwear dancing scene in Risky Business
. In both versions, she lip-synced to Bob Seger
's "Old Time Rock and Roll
" while dancing around the living room with the wireless guitar controller.
In October 2009, Klum was the often nude one woman subject of Heidilicious, a photo book by photographer Ian Rankin. Klum ventured into web-based videos, starring in "SPIKED HEEL: Supermodels Battle the Forces of Evil". The web-series starred model Coco Rocha
and was directed by fashion documentarian Doug Keeve. In the story, Klum aka 'The Kluminator,' and her stylish sidekick Coco "The Sassy Superhero" Rocha battle the evil Dr. Faux Pas who is plotting to destroy Fashion Week. The heroines employ everything from blow-dryer guns to fist fights, in order to thwart Dr. Faux Pas' dastardly plans. The Kluminator and Girl Wonder avoid a chain of fashion disasters to neutralize a death ray that threatens to vaporize the community of fashionistas gathered in Bryant Park.
In 2010, Klum became the new face and creative advisor for European cosmetics brand Astor, where she sets artistic direction and designs new products and fashion forward color collections.
In October 2010, Klum parted ways with Victoria's Secret after 13 years of working with the brand. She provided a simple explanation in her official statement, stating "All good things have to come to an end. I will always love Victoria and never tell her secret. It's been an absolute amazing time!"
It was reported on May 2011 that Klum trails far behind Gisele Bündchen
at No. 2 with estimated earnings of $20 million on Forbes
' list of the World's Top-Earning Model (2010-2011). Noting that since ending her 13-year run as a Victoria's Secret Angel, Klum has become more of a businesswoman than a model. She's partnered with New Balance
and Amazon.com
to launch a clothing line and signed a 20-episode deal to host a new show on Lifetime
, called Seriously Funny Kids.
In December 2004, Klum became the host, judge and executive producer of the reality show Project Runway
on the U.S. cable television channel Bravo, (airing on Lifetime television beginning in 2009) in which fashion designers compete for the opportunity to show their line at New York Fashion Week
and receive money to launch their own fashion line. She received an Emmy Award nomination for the show for each of the first four seasons. In 2008, Klum and Project Runway received a Peabody Award
, the first time a reality show won the award. Klum was nominated for an Emmy in 2008 for "outstanding host of a reality or reality-competition show" for Project Runway, the first year that category was recognized by the Emmys.
Klum has been the host, judge and co-producer of Germany's Next Topmodel the German version of the internationally successful reality television show, since 2006. All five seasons aired on the German TV station ProSieben.
". She designed shoes for Birkenstock
, jewellery for Mouawad, a clothing line for Jordache, and swimsuits – featured in the 2002 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was one of the designers of the Victoria's Secret lingerie line "The Body", named after the nickname she received following her first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show appearance. Her Mouawad jewelry collection debuted on the cable shopping network QVC
on September 14, 2006, and 14 of the 16 styles sold out after 36 minutes. Klum's clothing line for Jordache launched on April 30, 2008.
Klum has two fragrances, called "Heidi Klum" and "Me". She designed makeup for Victoria's Secret as part of their "Very Sexy Makeup Collection", titled "The Heidi Klum Collection". The first run debuted in Fall 2007. A second run was released in Fall 2008.
Klum was involved in the development of a namesake rose, the Heidi Klum rose
, which is available in Germany.
For the 2008 US Open, Klum designed a screen print t-shirt which was sold at the US Open shop. It featured child-like butterfly pictures. Proceeds will go to a non-profit organization maintaining the park which is home to the US Open.
Heidi became Barbie
's official ambassador for the doll's 50th anniversary in 2009, even having made a Barbie doll out of herself. On April 1 that same year, she appeared on the CBS
television special, I Get That a Lot
, as a girl working at a pizza shop. That same year, she appeared in advertising for Dannon's Light & Fit brand.
Klum and husband Seal announced in June 2010 that they will be making a reality series on Lifetime entitled Love's Divine (after Seal's song of the same name.)
In January 2010, Klum launched 2 lines of maternity wear: Lavish by Heidi Klum for A Pea in the Pod, and Loved by Heidi Klum for Motherhood Maternity. Klum stated, "I experienced fashion challenges during my four pregnancies and combined my knowledge of what works in terms of style, comfort and practicality to create these lines".
In October 2010, Klum with New Balance, HKNB, launched a line of active woman's wear fashion clothing on Amazon.com.
Klum is a "Real Celebrity" on the website Stardoll
, where she has a line of virtual jewelry, and a virtual clothing line called Jordache. Users can go to Klum's suite
and interact with her by doing interviews, sending pending requests or dressing Klum's doll.
In 2004, Klum co-authored Heidi Klum's Body of Knowledge with Elle magazine editor Alexandra Postman. The book gives Klum's biography as well as her advice on becoming successful. Prior to that, Klum had been an occasional guest columnist for the German television network RTL's
website. She wrote an essay for the German newspaper Die Zeit
.
In November 2006, Klum released her debut single "Wonderland
", written for a series of television advertisements for the German retailer "Douglas
". Proceeds were given to a children's charity in her hometown of Bergisch Gladbach
. She contributed to her husband Seal's 2007 album System, singing the duet "Wedding Day", a song that Seal wrote for their wedding.
After dating then 53 year old Flavio Briatore
(the managing director of Renault
's Formula One
team) for about one year, Klum announced she was pregnant. Klum gave birth to her first child, Helene Boshoven "Leni" Klum on May 4, 2004 in New York City. According to Klum, Leni's biological father Flavio Briatore
, is not involved in the child's life; she has stated emphatically that "Seal is Leni's father".
In early 2004, while still pregnant, Klum began a relationship with musician Seal
; he was present for Leni's birth. Klum and Seal married on May 10, 2005, on a beach in Mexico. They have three biological children together: sons Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel (born September 12, 2005) and Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel (born November 22, 2006), and daughter Lou Sulola Samuel (born October 9, 2009). In December 2009, Seal officially adopted Leni, and her last name was changed to Samuel. Klum and Seal renew their vows to one another each year on their anniversary in front of family and friends.
In 2008, Klum became a naturalized American citizen.
On November 21, 2009, she officially adopted the surname of her husband, Seal, and is now legally known as Heidi Samuel.
visiting patients. On April 30, 2011, Heidi led Walk for Kids, a community 5k to raise funds as part of the hospital's community awareness efforts.
butcher who used Klum's picture in advertising for a local dance on a flyer and a web page, contested her subsequent takedown notice in court and lost, forcing him to pay court costs of €2,300. German actress Jenny Elvers Elbertzhagen has pledged to pay on his behalf.
Heidi Klum appeared in episodes of TV shows like Malcolm in the Middle
(as a toothless hockey player) and Cursed
. She has also guest-starred as herself in I Get That a Lot
, Spin City
, Sex and the City
, CSI: Miami
, How I Met Your Mother
, Yes, Dear
, Ugly Betty
and Desperate Housewives
. Further, the character of Katya Nadanova in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
features her voice.
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, and occasional singer. In 2008 she became an American citizen while maintaining her native German citizenship. She is married to English musician Seal
Seal (musician)
Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...
with whom she shares the legal last name, Samuel.
Early life and discovery
Klum was raised in Bergisch GladbachBergisch Gladbach
' is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis .-Geography:Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river Rhine, approx...
, a town outside Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, by her German parents Günther, a cosmetics-company executive, and Erna, a hairdresser. A friend persuaded her to enroll in a national modeling contest called "Model 92". Out of 25,000 contestants, Klum was voted the winner on April 29, 1992 and offered a modeling contract worth US$300,000 by Thomas Zeumer, CEO of Metropolitan Models New York. As the winner, she appeared on the Gottschalk Late Night Show, a top German television show with host Thomas Gottschalk
Thomas Gottschalk
Thomas Johannes Gottschalk is a German TV host. He is best-known for hosting the popular show Wetten, dass..?, which he has led to a huge success in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol.-Early life:...
. She accepted the contract a few months later after graduating from school and decided not to try for an apprentice position at a fashion design school.
Acting and modeling
She is the current host of Project RunwayProject Runway
Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...
filmed at the Parsons New School of Fashion.
Heidi Klum has been featured on the covers of Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Elle, and Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
. She became widely known after appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....
and for her work with Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...
as an "Angel". Klum has hosted the 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows. On October 1, 2010, the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
reported on its page six gossip column that Heidi Klum would be leaving Victoria's Secret, which was later confirmed by Klum.
In addition to working with well known photographers on her first husband's Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object and subject of Joanne Gair
Joanne Gair
Joanne "Kiwi Jo" or "Kiwi Joe" Gair is a New Zealand-born and raised make-up artist and body painter whose body paintings have been featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue from 1999 to the 2011 edition...
body painting
Body painting
Body painting, or sometimes bodypainting, is a form of body art. Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the human skin, and lasts for only several hours, or at most a couple of weeks. Body painting that is limited to the face is known as face painting...
works in several editions from 1997 to 2010. She wrote the foreword
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
to Gair's book of body paint work Body Painting, Masterpieces. She was a spokesmodel for McDonald's, Braun
Braun (company)
' , formerly Braun AG, is a German consumer products company based in Kronberg, Germany.From 1984 until 2005, Braun was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Gillette Company, which had purchased a controlling interest in the company in 1967...
, Dannon, H & M, and Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500...
, among others. She is currently a celebrity spokesmodel for Jordache
Jordache
Jordache Enterprises, Inc. is a clothing company that manufactures apparel including shirts, jeans, and outerwear...
and Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
. In addition to modeling, she has appeared in several TV shows, including Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
, Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
, Yes, Dear, and How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
. She had a role as an ill-tempered hair model in the movie Blow Dry
Blow Dry
Blow Dry is a 2001 comedy film directed by Paddy Breathnach, written by Simon Beaufoy and starring Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson and Josh Hartnett.-Plot:...
, played a giantess in the movie Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted (film)
Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre...
and was cast as Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress is a Swiss actress and a sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr...
in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is a 2004 film about the life of English comic actor Peter Sellers, based on Roger Lewis' book of the same name...
. She had cameo appearances in The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada (film)
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs, a recent college graduate who goes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine...
and Perfect Stranger.
Her other projects include dance and video games. She is featured in the 2006 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
video game Everything or Nothing
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
007: Everything or Nothing is a third-person shooter video game, where the player controls James Bond. Bond is modeled after and voiced by the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, making it his final performance for the character in game and film...
, where she plays the villain Dr. Katya Nadanova. She has appeared in several music videos, including Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
's video "Love Foolosophy
Love Foolosophy
"Love Foolosophy" is the third single from British Acid Jazz band Jamiroquai's fifth studio album, A Funk Odyssey. The song was written by Jason Kay. The song's title is a play on words, using a makeshift homonym for "Philosophy" to imply that the singer is a fool for love, as it were. The song...
" from their album A Funk Odyssey
A Funk Odyssey
A Funk Odyssey is the fifth studio album by British acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 3 September 2001 in the United Kingdom, and 11 September 2001 in the United States.-Background:...
, Kelis
Kelis
Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1971 is an American musical artist. She is a BRIT Award, Q Award and NME Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She has had nine top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart...
's "Young, Fresh n' New
Young, Fresh n' New
"Young, Fresh n' New" is a song by American recording artist Kelis from her second studio album, Wanderland. Written by Kelis and The Neptunes members Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo—who also produced the track—, it was released as the album's only single in 2001, becoming a minor hit in the United...
", off her second 2001 album Wanderland
Wanderland
Wanderland is the second studio album by American recording artist Kelis, released in October 2001 by Virgin Records.Kelis was living in Europe at the time of the album's release. Wanderland was more experimental than her previous album, Kaleidoscope, and was a modest success chartwise...
and, most recently, the second video for her husband Seal
Seal (musician)
Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...
's song "Secret" off his 2010 album Seal 6: Commitment
Commitment (Seal album)
Commitment, sometimes known as Seal 6: Commitment, is the seventh studio album by British Nigerian singer Seal. It was released worldwide on 20 September 2010 with the exception of the United States where it was released on 28 September 2010. The album is produced by David Foster, who also produced...
. The latter video depicts the married couple sharing intimate moments while naked in bed; the concept was Klum's idea.
In July 2007, having earned $8 million in the previous 16 months, Klum was named by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
as third on the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. In 2008, Forbes estimated her income at $18 million, putting Klum in first place. For 2007, Forbes estimated her income at $16 million. Klum is signed to IMG Models
IMG Models
IMG Models is one of the major international modeling agencies, currently representing only female models. Its mother office is in New York City, with branches in Paris, London, Milan and Hong Kong. It is a division of New York, NY-based IMG...
in New York City.
In 2008, Klum was a featured guest on an American Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
commercial, where she was interviewed by a black Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
. When she commented that German engineering is so sexy, she caused the Beetle to blush and turn red. She has been a part of several commercials for Volkswagen and McDonald's on German television.
In November 2008, Klum appeared in two versions of a Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...
commercial, where she did a take on Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
's iconic underwear dancing scene in Risky Business
Risky Business
Risky Business is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It stars Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The hit film launched Cruise to stardom.-Plot:...
. In both versions, she lip-synced to Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
's "Old Time Rock and Roll
Old Time Rock and Roll
"Old Time Rock and Roll" is the title of a song by Bob Seger featured on his 1978 album Stranger in Town and released as a single in 1979. It is a nostalgic look at the music of a previous generation. The song was featured in the Tom Cruise film Risky Business and gained widespread fame because of...
" while dancing around the living room with the wireless guitar controller.
In October 2009, Klum was the often nude one woman subject of Heidilicious, a photo book by photographer Ian Rankin. Klum ventured into web-based videos, starring in "SPIKED HEEL: Supermodels Battle the Forces of Evil". The web-series starred model Coco Rocha
Coco Rocha
Coco Rocha is a Canadian fashion model.- Personal life :Rocha was born in Toronto, Ontario, and moved to Richmond and attended McRoberts secondary school, British Columbia at a very young age. Her family is in the airline industry. Her mother, Juanita, is a flight attendant and her father, Trevor...
and was directed by fashion documentarian Doug Keeve. In the story, Klum aka 'The Kluminator,' and her stylish sidekick Coco "The Sassy Superhero" Rocha battle the evil Dr. Faux Pas who is plotting to destroy Fashion Week. The heroines employ everything from blow-dryer guns to fist fights, in order to thwart Dr. Faux Pas' dastardly plans. The Kluminator and Girl Wonder avoid a chain of fashion disasters to neutralize a death ray that threatens to vaporize the community of fashionistas gathered in Bryant Park.
In 2010, Klum became the new face and creative advisor for European cosmetics brand Astor, where she sets artistic direction and designs new products and fashion forward color collections.
In October 2010, Klum parted ways with Victoria's Secret after 13 years of working with the brand. She provided a simple explanation in her official statement, stating "All good things have to come to an end. I will always love Victoria and never tell her secret. It's been an absolute amazing time!"
It was reported on May 2011 that Klum trails far behind Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Caroline Bündchen is a Brazilian fashion model, occasional film actress and goodwill ambassador for the UN Environment Programme.In the late 1990s, Bündchen became one of the first in a wave of Brazilian models to find success...
at No. 2 with estimated earnings of $20 million on Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
' list of the World's Top-Earning Model (2010-2011). Noting that since ending her 13-year run as a Victoria's Secret Angel, Klum has become more of a businesswoman than a model. She's partnered with New Balance
New Balance
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. , best known as simply New Balance, is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. It was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company...
and Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
to launch a clothing line and signed a 20-episode deal to host a new show on Lifetime
Lifetime
Lifetime may refer to:*Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive*Mean lifetime, a certain number that characterizes the rate of reduction of a particle of an assembly...
, called Seriously Funny Kids.
Producing
Project Runway
Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...
on the U.S. cable television channel Bravo, (airing on Lifetime television beginning in 2009) in which fashion designers compete for the opportunity to show their line at New York Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week
The semi-annual New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009, is held in February and September of each year in New York City. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world .-History:The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world's first...
and receive money to launch their own fashion line. She received an Emmy Award nomination for the show for each of the first four seasons. In 2008, Klum and Project Runway received a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
, the first time a reality show won the award. Klum was nominated for an Emmy in 2008 for "outstanding host of a reality or reality-competition show" for Project Runway, the first year that category was recognized by the Emmys.
Klum has been the host, judge and co-producer of Germany's Next Topmodel the German version of the internationally successful reality television show, since 2006. All five seasons aired on the German TV station ProSieben.
Design and other business ventures
Klum designed clothing lines (one for men), featured in the German mail-order catalog "OttoOtto GmbH
The Otto group, or Otto , is the world's largest mail order company, operating in more than 20 countries. The family of executive board chairman Michael Otto owns the majority of the company. The company is based in Hamburg, Germany...
". She designed shoes for Birkenstock
Birkenstock
Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH & Co. KG is a shoe manufacturer headquartered in Vettelschoß, Germany. The company sells Birkenstock, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds, which conform somewhat to the shape of their wearers' feet...
, jewellery for Mouawad, a clothing line for Jordache, and swimsuits – featured in the 2002 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was one of the designers of the Victoria's Secret lingerie line "The Body", named after the nickname she received following her first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show appearance. Her Mouawad jewelry collection debuted on the cable shopping network QVC
QVC
QVC is a multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, QVC broadcasts in five countries as QVC US, QVC UK, QVC Germany, QVC Japan and – QVC Italy to 200 million households...
on September 14, 2006, and 14 of the 16 styles sold out after 36 minutes. Klum's clothing line for Jordache launched on April 30, 2008.
Klum has two fragrances, called "Heidi Klum" and "Me". She designed makeup for Victoria's Secret as part of their "Very Sexy Makeup Collection", titled "The Heidi Klum Collection". The first run debuted in Fall 2007. A second run was released in Fall 2008.
Klum was involved in the development of a namesake rose, the Heidi Klum rose
Heidi Klum rose
The Heidi Klum rose is a modern rose from Tantau, and was first bred in 1999. Its registration number is RT00681.It was first bred in autumn 2003 as a cross of Old Port and Barkarole. German model Heidi Klum chose it herself from 15 cultivars and christened it in person during a rose show in...
, which is available in Germany.
For the 2008 US Open, Klum designed a screen print t-shirt which was sold at the US Open shop. It featured child-like butterfly pictures. Proceeds will go to a non-profit organization maintaining the park which is home to the US Open.
Heidi became Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
's official ambassador for the doll's 50th anniversary in 2009, even having made a Barbie doll out of herself. On April 1 that same year, she appeared on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television special, I Get That a Lot
I Get That a Lot
I Get That A Lot is a reality television special that airs on CBS, which sets up celebrities in everyday working class jobs. Hidden cameras are used to capture the reactions of unsuspecting customers and bypassers...
, as a girl working at a pizza shop. That same year, she appeared in advertising for Dannon's Light & Fit brand.
Klum and husband Seal announced in June 2010 that they will be making a reality series on Lifetime entitled Love's Divine (after Seal's song of the same name.)
In January 2010, Klum launched 2 lines of maternity wear: Lavish by Heidi Klum for A Pea in the Pod, and Loved by Heidi Klum for Motherhood Maternity. Klum stated, "I experienced fashion challenges during my four pregnancies and combined my knowledge of what works in terms of style, comfort and practicality to create these lines".
In October 2010, Klum with New Balance, HKNB, launched a line of active woman's wear fashion clothing on Amazon.com.
Klum is a "Real Celebrity" on the website Stardoll
Stardoll
Stardoll is a browser game for girls and boys based around the paper doll concept. Launched in 2004, the website was attracting a reported 200 thousand unique users a month ; as of September 2011 there were over 124 million users worldwide...
, where she has a line of virtual jewelry, and a virtual clothing line called Jordache. Users can go to Klum's suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
and interact with her by doing interviews, sending pending requests or dressing Klum's doll.
Other work
Klum is an artist, and had several of her paintings appear in various art magazines in the U.S. On September 27, 2002 she dedicated a sculpture she painted called "Dog with Butterflies" to commemorate the role of rescue dogs in the aftermath of September 11.In 2004, Klum co-authored Heidi Klum's Body of Knowledge with Elle magazine editor Alexandra Postman. The book gives Klum's biography as well as her advice on becoming successful. Prior to that, Klum had been an occasional guest columnist for the German television network RTL's
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
website. She wrote an essay for the German newspaper Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
.
In November 2006, Klum released her debut single "Wonderland
Wonderland (Heidi Klum song)
"Wonderland" is the debut single of German model Heidi Klum. The song was written for a series of television advertisements for the German retailer Douglas. Proceeds from the single were given to a children's charity in her hometown of Bergisch Gladbach. The single was released on iTunes...
", written for a series of television advertisements for the German retailer "Douglas
Douglas Holding
Douglas Holding AG is a German perfume, book, jewelry and confection retailer based in Hagen, which owns more than 1,900 stores, more than 1,500 of which are in Germany, in Europe and the United States....
". Proceeds were given to a children's charity in her hometown of Bergisch Gladbach
Bergisch Gladbach
' is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis .-Geography:Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river Rhine, approx...
. She contributed to her husband Seal's 2007 album System, singing the duet "Wedding Day", a song that Seal wrote for their wedding.
Personal life
Klum married stylist Ric Pipino in 1997; the couple divorced in 2002.After dating then 53 year old Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...
(the managing director of Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
's Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
team) for about one year, Klum announced she was pregnant. Klum gave birth to her first child, Helene Boshoven "Leni" Klum on May 4, 2004 in New York City. According to Klum, Leni's biological father Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...
, is not involved in the child's life; she has stated emphatically that "Seal is Leni's father".
In early 2004, while still pregnant, Klum began a relationship with musician Seal
Seal (musician)
Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...
; he was present for Leni's birth. Klum and Seal married on May 10, 2005, on a beach in Mexico. They have three biological children together: sons Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel (born September 12, 2005) and Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel (born November 22, 2006), and daughter Lou Sulola Samuel (born October 9, 2009). In December 2009, Seal officially adopted Leni, and her last name was changed to Samuel. Klum and Seal renew their vows to one another each year on their anniversary in front of family and friends.
In 2008, Klum became a naturalized American citizen.
On November 21, 2009, she officially adopted the surname of her husband, Seal, and is now legally known as Heidi Samuel.
Philanthropy
Heidi spends time at Children's Hospital Los AngelesChildren's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles, formerly Childrens Hospital Society, is a private, non-profit teaching hospital in Los Angeles. The hospital provides multidisciplinary care to over 93,000 children each year, with physician expertise in over 100 pediatric specialties and subspecialties.The hospital...
visiting patients. On April 30, 2011, Heidi led Walk for Kids, a community 5k to raise funds as part of the hospital's community awareness efforts.
Legal issues
An unemployed ChemnitzChemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
butcher who used Klum's picture in advertising for a local dance on a flyer and a web page, contested her subsequent takedown notice in court and lost, forcing him to pay court costs of €2,300. German actress Jenny Elvers Elbertzhagen has pledged to pay on his behalf.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 54 54 (film) 54 is a 1998 drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher, starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, and Neve Campbell... |
VIP Patron |
| 2001 | Blow Dry Blow Dry Blow Dry is a 2001 comedy film directed by Paddy Breathnach, written by Simon Beaufoy and starring Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson and Josh Hartnett.-Plot:... |
Jasmine |
| 2003 | Blue Collar Comedy Tour Blue Collar Comedy Tour The Blue Collar Comedy Tour was a comedy troupe featuring Jeff Foxworthy with three of his comedian friends, Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy, who had replaced fellow comedian Craig Hawksley, who performed in the first twenty shows on the tour... |
Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006... Sales Girl |
| 2004 | Ella Enchanted Ella Enchanted (film) Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre... |
Brumhilda |
| The Life and Death of Peter Sellers The Life and Death of Peter Sellers The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is a 2004 film about the life of English comic actor Peter Sellers, based on Roger Lewis' book of the same name... |
Ursula Andress Ursula Andress Ursula Andress is a Swiss actress and a sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr... |
|
| 2007 | Perfect Stranger | Victoria's Secret Party Host |
| 2011 | Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil | Heidi |
Heidi Klum appeared in episodes of TV shows like Malcolm in the Middle
Malcolm in the Middle
Malcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...
(as a toothless hockey player) and Cursed
Cursed (TV show)
Cursed, later renamed The Weber Show, was an American sitcom that ran on NBC from 2000–2001. It starred Steven Weber, Amy Pietz, Wendell Pierce, and Chris Elliot....
. She has also guest-starred as herself in I Get That a Lot
I Get That a Lot
I Get That A Lot is a reality television special that airs on CBS, which sets up celebrities in everyday working class jobs. Hidden cameras are used to capture the reactions of unsuspecting customers and bypassers...
, Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
, Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
, CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
, How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Yes, Dear
Yes, Dear
Yes, Dear is a television sitcom that aired from October 2, 2000, to February 15, 2006, on CBS. It starred Anthony Clark, Jean Louisa Kelly, Mike O'Malley and Liza Snyder....
, Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
and Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
. Further, the character of Katya Nadanova in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
007: Everything or Nothing is a third-person shooter video game, where the player controls James Bond. Bond is modeled after and voiced by the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, making it his final performance for the character in game and film...
features her voice.