Klum, Heidi

Heidi Klum, (born June 1, 1973, Bergisch Gladbach, North Rhine–Westphalia, West Germany), German American supermodel, television personality, and businesswoman who hosted Germany’s Next Topmodel and Project Runway.

In 1992, while living near Cologne with her father, a cosmetics company executive, and mother, a hairdresser, 18-year-old Klum entered the “Model 92” German beauty contest. Out of 25,000 contestants, Klum won the top prize—a $300,000 contract with New York City’s Metropolitan Models. After a brief sojourn in South Beach, Florida, Klum moved to New York City, where she launched her modeling career in 1993. Her breakthrough came when in 1994 she appeared on the cover of Mirabella magazine. In the mid-1990s Klum achieved increased visibility as a cover model for Vogue, ELLE, and Marie Claire magazines, but her most important appearance was on the February 20, 1998, swimsuit cover of the widely read Sports Illustrated. In 1999 she achieved global recognition as one of the original “Angels,” a troupe of Victoria’s Secret lingerie models who appeared in annual televised runway shows and at other promotional events. Klum continued to model for Victoria’s Secret and also designed an eponymous lingerie and cosmetics collection for the retailer.

Klum reigned as one of the world’s highest-paid models and pursued a host of other lucrative business ventures. She launched her own swimsuit calendars for the millennium in the United States and one for Europe in 2002. Klum went on to host an adventure program for the Discovery channel and landed several supporting film roles as well as spots in video games.

In the early 21st century Klum became a television presence as the hostess of the reality programs Project Runway (2004–17), a fashion design competition of which she was also an executive producer, and Germany’s Next Topmodel (2006– ), in which players competed for a chance to win a contract with the IMG Models agency; in 2013 she won an Emmy Award for hosting the former show. A spin-off of Project Runway, Models of the Runway aired from 2009 to 2010. Also hosted by Klum, the program profiled the models who donned the creations of the Project Runway contestants and offered their behind-the-scenes impressions of the competition. In 2013 she became a judge on America’s Got Talent. During this time, Klum occasionally acted, and she appeared as herself in various TV shows. In 2019 she lent her voice to the animated film Arctic Dogs. The following year Klum began hosting (with Tim Gunn, who had appeared on Project Runway) the Amazon reality show Making the Cut, a competition involving fashion designers.

In 2005 Klum married British soul singer Seal, with whom she had several children; in 2014 the couple divorced. Klum became a U.S. citizen in 2008.