Heidi Klum reflects on industry bias after client cut ties during pregnancy

Heidi Klum has opened up about the challenges of motherhood in the modeling world, revealing that a client once cut ties with her during her pregnancy, claiming she was “no longer sexy” because she had become a mother.

The 52-year-old supermodel, speaking to Paper magazine, reflected on the emotional impact of the experience while pregnant with her eldest daughter, Leni, 21, whom she shares with her former partner, businessman Flavio Briatore.

“I remember I had one client. When I was pregnant, they did not want to work with me anymore,” Klum said. “They thought that I was not sexy anymore, because I was now a mother. I was defined before children as being a sexy woman, and now with a child, as being a mom. That I no longer deserved to have that title. That could also not be part of me any longer.”

Klum, who also has daughter Lou, 16, and sons Henry, 20, and Johan, 19, with her ex-husband, singer Seal, discussed how she navigated the fashion industry while pregnant, particularly on her long-running reality show Project Runway, which she has hosted since 2004.

“You didn’t see a lot of pregnant women on television. It was a big thing at the time,” she said. “I was pregnant with all my kids, always on the show, and it was a challenge for me because pregnancy clothes were really hard to find at the time. So that’s why I started having a pregnancy line because of that, because it’s like, ‘What am I gonna wear?’ I’m not hiding in the house pregnant. I’m on the stage, I’m on TV, and it’s a show about fashion—I need to have good things!”

Klum also shared how she balances her career with family life, joking that she has a “split personality” like a typical Gemini. 

“There’s two of me. One is being domestic at home, in front of the computer, and the other one is going to the office. I’m a Gemini!”