11. Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum (pronounced "Kloom") was born June 1st, 1973, in Bergische Gladbach, a small city in Germany. Practically destined to be a fashion model, Heidi's father, Gunther, worked for a cosmetics company, while her mother, Erna, was a hairdresser. Heidi Klum is a German model, actress, television host, business woman, fashion designer, television producer, artist, and occasional singer. She is married to singer Seal.

Klum was the Emmy Award-nominated hostess of Project Runway and Germany's Next Topmodel, and is a Victoria's Secret Angel. Klum was raised by her parents, Günther, a cosmetics company executive, and Erna, a hairdresser, in Bergisch Gladbach, West Germany, a small city outside Cologne. Klum was persuaded by a friend 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

18 years old and still in high school, Heidi came across an ad for a model competition in her area while reading a magazine. While she was intrigued by the idea, she never even dreamed of the possibility of entering, much less of winning, but her friend had a different attitude and encouraged her to send in some photos.
Model for all ages
The "Model '92" competition, organized by the Petra magazine and a New York Model agency, had a grueling selection process, where thirty to forty applicants arrived to Munich, hoping to be chosen as one of the three to appear on the Saturday Show of Gottschalk. While candidates were eliminated on a weekly basis, Heidi was one of the three finalists, and made the final cut to become "Model '92."

What began as a "just for fun" contest, turned into a life-altering event for the beautiful brunette. Heidi immediately signed a contract with the Metropolitan modeling agency, for a minimum of three years.

Heidi's first modeling gigs were for the Petrol catalogue. Before heading to the other side of the Atlantic, she modeled in fashion capitals such as Paris and Milan. When she finally did move overseas, Heidi found work in Miami before making the move to the highly competitive Big Apple.



With patience and effort, the work offers started to pour in for Heidi. She appeared in many print advertisements, including: Bonne Bell (which Denise Richards also modeled for), Finesse, Gerry Weber, Givenchy's Amarige, I-N-C, and she hit it big with the Victoria's Secret campaign.
Angelic Heidi
As one of the Victoria's Secret Angels, Heidi made the transition from model to supermodel, joining the ranks of Yasmeen Ghauri, Tyra Banks, Helena Christensen, and Stephanie Seymour.

While Heidi appeared on the covers of such magazines as Bride's, Cosmopolitan, Self, Glamour, and Mademoiselle, none could live up to the recognition Heidi received as 1998's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl, an honor that models Vendela, Elle MacPherson and Tyra Banks had previously claimed.

Having made the move from supermodel to actress, Heidi has appeared as herself several times on the ABC comedy Spin City and hit the big screen with a minor appearance in the feature film 54, as a V.I.P. patron.
Always kissable klum
Presently signed with Elite Model Management, Heidi continues to model and pursue an acting career, which has blossomed in 2001. She made a cameo appearance in Sex and the City, sharing the runway with Sarah Jessica Parker. She also had a relatively large role in the 2001 comedy, Blow Dry (which she has a lot of experience with, thanks to her family, career and husband).

Known for her down-to-earth personality and her sense of humor (she even yodeled when she first appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman), Heidi married celebrity hairstylist Ric Pipino in 1997. The couple announced their separation in November 2002.

Designing and perfume

Klum designed clothing lines (one for men), featured in the German mail-order catalog "Otto." She designed shoes for Birkenstock, jewelery 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.[citation needed]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 which maintaining the park which is home to the US Open.