Photo:Franziska Krug/Getty
Franziska Krug/Getty
Heidi Klumand her oldest child, Leni Olumi Klum, live up to the phrase “like mother, like daughter.”
Born in May 2004 in New York City, Leni is a model like her mom and made her professional debut alongside Heidi for the January/February 2021 issue ofVogueGermany. Heidi shared her excitement about the cover with a long, heartfelt message to Lenion Instagram.
“I’m so proud of you. And it’s not because you’ve chosen your own path. I know, that no matter which path you were to go down, you would be your own woman. You always know exactly what you want and what you don’t want. You ain’t no mini-me and I’m happy for you that you can now show who YOU are,” the supermodel wrote, in part, in German.
TheMaking the Cuthost has been happy to help guide her daughter’sburgeoning modeling career, which she described as “really exciting.”
“It’s a fun thing for her to do,” Heidi told PEOPLE. “She’s not afraid of cameras because she’s always come to my sets and my shows. She’s quite strong in the sense where she plays with it!”
It was Heidi’s own joy of modeling thatsparked Leni’s passion.
“I’ve always gone to work with my mom and thought, ‘This looks so fun. She looks so happy while she’s working,’ " Leni told PEOPLE. “I’d jump in sometimes, and I’d play around with the makeup that her makeup artist would bring.”
Here’s everything to know about Heidi Klum’s daughter, Leni Olumi Klum.
She was born in New York City
Leni Klum Instagram
“They have both taught me to be myself, and to do what makes me feel comfortable,” Leni told PEOPLE of Heidi and Seal. “You can tell if you’re not comfortable and then the best of you isn’t brought out. I just think you should be open and honest with what makes you comfortable, be yourself, do what you love. And if you do all those three things then you’re golden.”
Leni grew up primarily in Los Angeles, where shegraduatedfrom Pacifica Christian High School in 2022. She is a big sister to Heidi and Seal’sthree children together, sons Henry Günther andJohan Riley, and daughterLou Sulola.Heidi and Sealseparated in 2012, and the German-American model marriedTokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitzin 2019.
In an Instagram post in 2020, Heidi admitted that Leni “never had the possibility to grow up ‘normal.’ ”
“But what is normal? Growing up with three different daddies … And I would say: none of it harmed you,” the proud mom wrote. “On the contrary: you are a self-possessed young woman, works hard for your goals. And even more important … you are a really cool person, with your heart in the right place.”
She’s close with Seal
Seal and Leni Klum in New York.Seal Instagram
Seal Instagram
Seal adopted Leni in 2009, and while the musician and Heidi divorced in 2014, Seal and Leni have remained close.
The singer showed off their bond in a September 2023Instagram post, which included a picture of the father-daughter duo smiling together on a N.Y.C. street.
“In NY with the young woman who changed my life for the better 19yrs ago. Thank you Leni for making me a better person,” he wrote inthe caption. “Love you, -papa.”
She is a model — and has posed with her mom!
Theo Wargo/Getty
Lenimade her modeling debutat 16, posing alongside Heidi inVogueGermany.
“That’s, like, insane that I did that as my first job and my mom was with me, which made it so much fun,” Leni, then 16, told PEOPLE of the cover shoot. “It was just such a good day. I wasn’t nervous at all. I was just so excited. I was like, ‘I’m finally modeling, and it’sVogue.’ It was just so many things to be excited about.”
She teamed up with her mom again for anIntimissi lingerie campaignin 2022. Leni’s other major career moves include making her runway debut whileopening Berlin Fashion Weekin January 2021, walkingfor Dolce & Gabanna, and starring in campaigns for brands likeDior BeautyandFila.
Herfirst solo fashion coverwas forGlamour Germany, which honored the 20th anniversary of Heidi becoming the magazine’s first cover start in 2001. Heidi and Leni had individual covers for the April 2022 issue ofHarper’s BazaarGermany, and Leni has also graced the covers ofHarper’s BazaarKazakhstan,Hunger,FlauntandRollacoaster.
Though she’s trying hard to define an independent career, Leni gets frequent advice from her mom, which she toldExtrain 2021 included “always telling me I need to have fun … She’s always like ‘Bounce around, have fun, be energetic, be excited.’ "
Heidi’s decades-long well of advice is a good one to source.
“I said to her, at the end of the day you have to be happy with yourself,” theGermany’s Next Top Modelhost told PEOPLE. “And don’t do anything you don’t want to do. It’s OK to say no. You don’t always have to please people.”
Her mom kept her out of the public eye until she was 16
Daniele Venturelli/Daniele Venturelli/Getty
Leni has wanted to model since shewas around 12, and she toldVogueGermany that it was “only a matter of time” before she started pursuing it.
“The first offer came when I was only 12 or 13, from a brand I liked to wear: Brandy Melville. At that time I begged my mother, but no chance. Now I understand that it would have been too early,” she said.
Despite the many offers sent Leni’s way, Heidi purposefully made aneffort toensure her daughter’s privacyas she was growing up.
“She’s old enough now,” Klum told PEOPLE in 2020. “I always thought she was too young. We always also decided to keep the children out of the public eye. But she’s driving a car now, she’s 16, so I figured if you can do that, you can also model now if this is what you wish to do.”
“Obviously, as a mother, [I want my] child to do what she wants to do,” she added. “The industry is great and I love it and I’ve been in it for over 20 years but it’s also, it’s a lot of traveling, it’s different. You have to be a strong person, especially as a woman you have to be very strong.”
She is a college student
Lenimoved from Los Angeles to N.Y.C. to bothpursue her modeling careerandattend college. She beganstudying interior design, a dream she’s had since she was 14, in August 2022. Heidi told theTodayshow that Leni is at “the school shealways wanted to go to.”
“I feel I’m all grown up now, and I can live on my own. I’m not technically on my own because I have a roommate, but I get that it’s hard for [my mom],” Leni told PEOPLE of Heidi’s adjustment period. “She loves to send us groceries. I got an alert the other day, and I looked outside the door. There were 25 big bags of groceries. My roommate and I were freaking out. We started meal prepping everything. It almost didn’t fit in the fridge.”
Though the cross-country move has beennerve-wracking and “worrying”for Heidi, she told PEOPLE that she is “very proud of my daughter and her modeling. And she’s studying at the same time, she’s juggling already.”
Heidi feels good about Leni making her way in the Big Apple, tellingEntertainment Tonight, “I started in New York, so she knows New York inside and out because we shotProject Runwaythere for so many years.”
She is very close to her mom — and wore one of Heidi’s dresses to prom!
In atwinning videoforVogueGermany, Leni told her mom, “You’re my best friend because I can tell you everything.” To that end, both frequently praise each other publicly, with Heidi often sharing photos of Leni on Instagram. Leni even shared aphotoof herself in “mama’s dress” forher prom nightin May 2022.
Heidi has also occasionally shares photos with both Leni and her own mother, Erna. The most recentthree-generation selfiecame in June 2023, which theAmerica’s Got Talentjudge captioned with three heart emojis.
But the one place they differ? Their fashion choices, with Leni tellingExtrashe is “definitely opposite” of her mom.
“She calls it grungy, I call it oversized I guess … You’ll never catch me in super tight jeans because I don’t like wearing things that are uncomfortable … baggy and big,” Leni said.
She has made red-carpet appearances with Heidi and Seal
Jackson Lee/GC Images
As her career grows, Leni has been stepping out at more and more high-profile events, though she’s no stranger to the experience.
Leni has walked a handful of red carpets with her mom since 2021, including the 2022Harper’s BazaarICONS and Bloomingdale’s 150th Anniversary party in N.Y.C., thepremiere ofJurassic World: Dominionand the LuisaViaRoma for Unicef event in L.A.
She’s also accompanied her dad Seal to a few events, including thepremiere ofNetflix’sThe Harder They Fallin October 2021 and theShotgun Weddingpremierein January 2023. The father-daughter duo were also spottedtaking in the US Openin September 2022.
She made her debut at her mom’s famous Halloween party in 2022
Noam Galai/Getty
Heidi is known for throwingover-the-top Halloween bashes, and in 2022, Leniofficially made the guest listfor the first time.
“My kids have never really gone to the Halloween party, obviously, because they’re all too young,” Heidi told PEOPLE. “And now my daughter moved to Manhattan, so she was here. It’s her first time coming and she was so excited. She’s only ever heard about the stories and seen photos. It’s fun for her to be here tonight and it’s fun for me to have her here!”
Leni dressed as Catwoman for the spooky event, posing for plenty of photos with her mom, who wasdressed as a worm.
She has been in a relationship since 2019
Leni has been in a long-term relationship withAris Rachevskysince 2019.
In August 2023, Lenishared a sweet photofrom her and Aris’summer vacationin the South of France, where she could be seen receiving a kiss on the head from her beau.
She has started to design clothing
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Leni co-created her own collection for the clothing line About You. She modeled items during the collab’s Fashion Week Milan 2022 show, with her mom and boyfriend supporting her from the front row.
Hersecond clothing collectionwith the brand was a spring/summer 2023 collection.
“Everything’s very casual. Comfort is key. A lot of linen. I’m also doing bathing suits. I always have trouble finding bikini tops, because no bikini top brand really fits me perfectly. Which is why I definitely wanted to include a diverse size range in my About You collection,” she told PEOPLE.
She went brunette during her senior year of high school
Though she’s back to blonde, Leni spent most of 2022 as a brunette. But despite what many people thought, she did not go darker to separate herself from her mother.
“I was just so sick of looking the same every single day and I needed a change,” she told PEOPLE. “I was also dyeing my roots every month. And then obviously, from bleaching your hair all the time, your hair gets really dead. So I dyed it brown, it got so much healthier. And then I was like, ‘Okay, well, it’s still dead. I need to chop it.’”
source: people.com
