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From Victoria’s Secret angel to queen of Halloween: Heidi Klum turns 50

The German is one of the best-paid supermodels in the world. She also has an extensive track record in television, with an Emmy included. In addition to her career, she is also known for her personal life and her taste for elaborate costumes. Today her oldest daughter Leni has begun to follow her steps in the fashion industry

Madrid - Jun 01, 2023 - 21:39CEST

Heidi Klum turns 50 years old this June 1. The model and queen of Halloween parties was born in Bergisch Gladbach, a city in western Germany. At 18 years old, she began to find her place in the modeling world, when she won the Model 92 competition in her home country. When she won the contest, from a selection of 25,000 candidates, she received a $300,000 contract with the agency Metropolitan Models in New York. Just two years later, in 1994, her career took off with her appearance on the cover of the magazine ‘Mirabella,’ followed by publications in ‘Vogue,’ ‘Elle’ and ‘Marie Claire.’ She became one of the models of the moment when she appeared on the cover of the ’Sports Illustrated’ swimsuit issue in 1998. Since then, she has posed for more than 150 magazines and became the spokesperson and image for brands such as H&M, Volkswagen and McDonald’s.Courtesy Everett Collection (Courtesy Everett Collection / Cordon Press)

In 1997, Klum signed a contract with the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret. She became the first German model to be one of their ‘angels,’ a title that refers to the models with juicy exclusive contracts with the company. She was an angel for 13 years and participated in its runway shows between 1997 and 2010, missing only the 2006 presentation when she was pregnant with her son Johan. In 2010, she hung up her wings. “All good things have to come to an end,” she told ‘Page Six’ after announcing her retirement. “I’ll always love Victoria’s Secret,” she added. But turning that page didn’t hurt her career. A year later, she became the second best-paid supermodel in the world, with an estimated income of $20 million, according to ‘Forbes.’Cordon Press

After stepping down from the runway, she continued making a mark on the fashion world. IN 2004, she became a host, judge and executive producer of ‘Project Runway,’ a fashion program in which designers compete to show their collection in New York fashion week. ‘Project Runway’ was nominated 13 times for Outstanding Reality Competition Show at the Emmys. In 2013, Klum won the Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. She was the face of the show for 16 seasons, but she left it, along with her co-star Tim Gunn, to launch ‘Making the Cut,’ her own reality fashion program, whose third season premiered in 2022 (a fourth season is yet to be confirmed). Her career as a television host is broad: since 2006, she is a host, judge and producer of ‘Germany’s Top Model,’ inspired by Tyra Banks’ original version. Since 2013, she has been part of the team of judges of ‘America’s Got Talent.’JIM RUYMEN (UPI /Landov / Cordon Press)

Beyond television, Klum has designed for brands like Jordache and Birkenstock. She has also released several lines of clothing —including two for pregnant women— and perfumes.RUDY K/SIPA (RUDY K/SIPA / Cordon Press)

Klum has also made forays into film. She has had small roles in movies including ‘Zoolander,’ ‘Blow Dry’ and ‘Ella Enchanted.’ She has also had cameos in blockbusters, often playing herself, like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and ‘Perfect Stranger,’ and in television shows including ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother.’Brendon Thorne (Paramount Pictures/Getty Images)

In addition to her career as a successful supermodel, Heidi Klum has also made headlines for her personal life. She married the celebrity hairstylist Ric Pipino in 1997, when she was 24. The wedding was held on a 50-acre estate in Stone Ridge, New York, with 100 guests. The marriage lasted five years and the couple divorced in 2002.Kevin Winter (Getty Images)

In 2003, the model started a relationship with the Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, then the Renault Formula One team manager. Before meeting Klum, he had been with supermodel Naomi Campbell. Just nine months after their relationship began, Klum announced that she was pregnant. Shortly before the birth of her first daughter, Leni, the couple separated. Briatore, 23 years older than the model, has never been involved in raising his biological daughter, who was legally adopted by Seal, Klum’s second husband. "Leni is my natural daughter, but the three of us happily agreed that it made more sense if Seal adopted her because a child needs to grow up in a family,” Briatore said in a 2016 interview.imago stock&people (imago/Mauersberger / Cordon Press)

After her breakup with Briatore, while pregnant, Heidi Klum met the British singer Seal. The artist was at her birth on May 4, 2004. In December of that year, he proposed to the model in an igloo in British Columbia. Their wedding was a small ceremony close to the singer’s home in Costa Careyes, Mexico, in May 2005. They had three children together, and in 2009, Seal legally adopted Leni. Despite the couple renewing their vows every year, according to ‘People,’ Seal and Klum separated in 2012 and divorced in 2014. Trae Patton (NBCUniversal/Getty Images)

Heidi Klum has four children, the last three from her relationship with Seal. After Leni, Henry (17), Johan (16) and Lou (13) were born. The family does not tend to show themselves on social media. On Klum’s Instagram account, she shares about her professional projects with her 11 million followers.Frank Lewis (Frank Lewis/startraksphoto.com / Cordon Press)

Heidi Klum made public her relationship with her third husband, the guitarist of the music group Tokio Hotel, in 2018. The supermodel and Tom Kaulitz were engaged a year later, and they said “I do” on a yacht in February 2019. Their photos on social media, and those captured by the paparazzi of the couple kissing passionately on a yacht during their vacation in France, show that they are still in the honeymoon phase.IPA (Pool Photo Events 01/IPA/Sipa USA / Cordon Press)

Victoria’s Secret angel, television host, businesswoman and…worm? If there’s one thing that Heidi Klum takes as seriously as a red carpet, it’s Halloween. The German’s annual parties, whose 21st edition took place in 2022 after a hiatus because of the pandemia, are legendary for no other reason than her costumes. Last Halloween, she showed up as a fishing worm. Her costume, which involved 10 hours of work, would not have been complete without her other half: her husband Tom Kaulitz dressed as a fisherman.Taylor Hill (Getty Images)

Over the 21 years of her Halloween costumes, Heidi Klum has transformed into a werewolf, a bionic alien woman and Princess Fiona from Shrek, and she has appeared with a dozen clones. Some of her most unforgettable costumes have been a human body without skin (2011), Jessica Rabbit (2015) and an old woman (2013).Landov (cordon press) / Andrew Toth (WireImage / Getty) / Mike Coppola (Getty)

Leni Klum is following her mother’s steps in fashion. At just 18 years old, the supermodel’s firstborn has already starred on the cover of two major magazines. She appeared as a model for the first time in September 2020, alongside her mother in the German edition of ‘Vogue.’ The following year, she appeared on the cover of the German edition of ‘Glamour,’ and in March 2022 she posed, again with her mother, for ‘Harper’s Bazaar.’ They have also starred together in a lingerie brand’s campaign. According to her mother, Leni has known she wanted to pursue a career in modeling since she was 11 years old. To celebrate her daughter’s 17th birthday, Heidi Klum revealed on Instagram that Leni had already walked the runway before birth, as she was four months pregnant in the 2003 Victoria’s Secret fashion show.Inc-Coolpix (action press / Cordon Press)