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Heidi Klum Breaks Silence On Controversial Lingerie Photoshoots With Her Daughter Leni
Heidi Klum, the world’s most famous German supermodel, has never shied away from controversy.
Klum has been shrugging off negative comments about letting her young daughter appear with her in a lingerie ads in recent years.
Now, she is addressing those negative comments days before her return to Project Runwayafter an eight-year hiatus.
Highlights
- German supermodel Heidi Klum talks about doing a lingerie ad with her daughter several years ago that drew much criticism at the time.
- Addressing the negative comments, Klum says that she raised her kids to be comfortable with their bodies because that’s how she was raised.
- Leni Klum, now 21, was the first of Klum’s four children to start modeling. Her son Henry, 19, recently signed with an agency as well.
RELATED:
Heidi Klum talks about why the lingerie adverts have never bothered her
Image credits: Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
Image credits: Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
Klum, now 52, sat down for a People Magazine cover story about her return to the franchise.
After famously hosting the hit reality TV show for a whopping 16 seasons, she left in 2018 with fellow host Tim Gunn to start a new fashion-oriented series, Making the Cut, which airs on Amazon’s Prime Video.
During the interview, Klum opened up about lingerie shoots with her daughter Leni, the first of which took place when Leni was 18.
Image credits: leniklum / Instagram
The advertisements are for Intimissimi and show the mother and daughter in various poses and various bras and underwear.
There have been four lingerie campaigns for the brand that have created backlash for the mother and daughter, according to various sources. The first was in October of 2022, the second was in May of 2023, and the third campaign for the brand was in the fall of 2024.
Each time, netizens expressed dismay over Klum allowing her daughter to model such revealing pieces.
Their latest campaign, launched in April of this year, also received backlash, according to Page Six, who said Heidi was forced to disable the comments section of her Instagram account.
Image credits: People / YouTube
“A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, I don’t know about mom and daughter doing this together,’” she said in the interview. “But for us? I’m proud of my daughter. She’s fine with me like that.”
The article says Klum “shrugs off” people’s prudishness on social media: “I’ve always been very open with my body. When I’m suntanning in the backyard, I might not have a top on.”
Image credits: heidiklum / Instagram
Klum has explained in previous interviews that she grew up in a very “easy-going” family, where no one had a problem with “being n*ked in front of” each other.
In People, Klum said that the way she was raised and the way she parented her children have actually made them more confident in their bodies.
“I’m European … my kids don’t know me any other way and are probably more easygoing with their bodies because of it.”
Klum’s daughter says she wanted to start modeling at 13 but her mother forbade it
Image credits: leniklum / Instagram
In the years since the Intimissimi advertisement, Leni has spoken about getting into the same business as her mother.
Speaking with Glamour Germany in March, the 21-year-old said that it was in fact her mother who reigned in her early modeling aspirations.
Image credits: heidiklum / Instagram
“At 13 I finally wanted to start modeling myself, but my mother slowed me down. I’m too young. Today I would say: she was right!” she told the publication.
Elsewhere in the article, Leni talks about how she manages negative comments online, saying that she tries to keep everything in perspective.
Image credits: heidiklum / Instagram
“I always try to remember that no matter what you do, there will always be someone who doesn’t like it. You simply have no influence on this and must not focus too much on the negative,” she told the publication.
Although there is one trick up her sleeve for easily ignoring the hate, especially when it comes from Europe: “Oh, and: Most comments are in German, and I don’t understand many of them properly. Of course, that also helps (laughs).”
Klum’s oldest son, Henry, is also working on his modeling career
Image credits: leniklum / Instagram
Leni isn’t Klum’s only child to get into modeling. Her 19-year-old son, Henry, has just been signed with Next Management, according to a press release.
“I’ve grown up around fashion and entertainment, but stepping into this world myself is a whole new experience. I’m grateful to Next Management for this opportunity and excited to learn, grow, and find my own voice in the industry,” media quoted Henry as saying in an official release.
Image credits: People / YouTube
Henry and his brother Johan, who is 18, and their sister Lou Sulola, who is 15, are all the biological children of Klum and her second husband, musician Seal.
Neither Johan nor Lou has expressed an interest in modeling.
Leni was fathered by Flavio Briatore, an Italian businessman. She was legally adopted by Seal and considers him her father.
Klum is now married to the guitarist of German rock band Tokio Hotel, Tom Kaulitz. The pair wed in 2019.
Her comeback to Project Runway is much anticipated. The first episode of Season 21 airs on July 31st on Freeform.
Netizens have mixed feelings about whether Klum’s body positivity is real
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David du Plessis 4 months ago
Nothing to see here, folks. Some have said 'It's too revealing". It's lingerie, for f**k's sake; of course it's revealing. But there's nothing distasteful about it.
Michael MacKinnon 4 months ago
So, by way of context...on a quick check, Heidi Klum was about the same age when she started modeling, including modeling lingerie. How many people objected to that? And so now, she's taking advantage of her own image / experience to launch one of her children in the same career. At least this way, mom can ensure that her daughter doesn't get faced with coercive casting couch situations.
David du Plessis 4 months ago
Nothing to see here, folks. Some have said 'It's too revealing". It's lingerie, for f**k's sake; of course it's revealing. But there's nothing distasteful about it.
Michael MacKinnon 4 months ago
So, by way of context...on a quick check, Heidi Klum was about the same age when she started modeling, including modeling lingerie. How many people objected to that? And so now, she's taking advantage of her own image / experience to launch one of her children in the same career. At least this way, mom can ensure that her daughter doesn't get faced with coercive casting couch situations.
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