If there’s anyone well-equipped to give advice on becoming a model, it’s Heidi Klum, who graced the catwalks and ad campaigns for 30 years. But now that her 17-year-old daughter, Leni Klum, is following in her footsteps, the model mom shares some parental fears about letting go.
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In an exclusive interview with She knows, Heidi describes her worries about motherhood – she shares Henry, 16, Johan, 15, Lou, 12 and Leni, from her previous marriage to musician Seal. “With all your children, the biggest fear is that people put too many stones in their path, and they don’t know how to throw those stones aside or jump over them, or that people are mean to them. “, she says. “You want your children to be happy. You don’t want them to be intimidated or insulted. So that’s really the only fear there is, is that your kids won’t be happy where they are.
As for his eldest, who appeared in the pages of SHE, on the cover of Vogue Germany with her mother and walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana, Heidi shares, “So far so good. It hasn’t crossed her mind yet – she’s still, you know, a kid and she’s going to school. Right now, she has done all her college requirements, because she wants to go to college next. So I feel like she has a good head on her shoulders.
Heidi, who is married to Tokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz, also admits to being a ‘helicopter parent’ with all of her children, adding: ‘The hardest part is also letting them go and do their thing without always being the hovering helicopter parent. always. You know, I was high for a very long time. And I feel like it’s time to let go a little. I feel like she has her head on her shoulders and gets everything she wants to do.
In fact, the beauty icon thinks Leni is better prepared to handle the spotlight than she was as a young model. “She was born into this industry – not like me, for example,” says Heidi. “It was new for me when people photographed me – the paparazzi, for example, when you see yourself on a stand. For her, she is photographed since she hangs around my neck on a BabyBjörn, you know? C So it’s a different kind of upbringing for her in the spotlight. So for her, she sees the camera as her friend, not her enemy. So she’s a little looser and more fun and natural than I do. was maybe at the beginning.
Naturally, Heidi can’t help but rave about Leni’s impressive accomplishments. ” She’s very well. I am very proud of her. I mean, obviously, you’re proud of the beautiful pictures and the things that she does, you know? But I’m more proud of how she behaves and how she juggles school and work and being nice to people. So far, I don’t really need to intervene. Of course, because she’s still a minor, I’m here. But other than that, I don’t have to tell her what to say and what to do, like she has her own thing, you know?
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
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