Heidi Klum

Heidi Samuel, born June 1, 1973, better known by her birth name Heidi Klum, is a German and American model, actress, television host, business woman, fashion designer, television producer, artist, and occasional singer. She is married to English singer Seal.

Early life and discovery
Heidi was raised in Bergisch Gladbach, a city outside Cologne by her 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.

Acting and modeling
Klum has been on the cover of fashion magazines, including Vogue, ELLE and Marie Claire. She became known after appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and for her work with Victoria's Secret as an "Angel". Klum hosted the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2009.

In addition to working with world class photographers on her Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object and subject of Joanne Gair body painting works in several editions from 1999 to 2006. She wrote the foreword to Gair's book of body paint work. She was a spokesmodel for McDonald's, Braun, 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.

In July 2007, having earned $8 million in the previous 12 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 $14 million, putting Klum in second place. For 2009, Forbes estimated her income at $16 million. Klum is signed to IMG Models in New York City.

Project Runway
In December 2004, she became the host, judge and executive producer of the reality show Project Runway on the U.S. cable television channel Bravo, 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.

Designing and perfume
Klum designed clothing lines, featured in the German mail-order catalog "Otto". 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. A second line of her jewelry collection debuted on QVC on April 14, 2007, with similar success. 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.