Karlie Elizabeth Kloss (born August 3, 1992) is an American fashion model. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015 when she resigned to study at New York University. By 2019, Kloss had appeared on 40 international Vogue covers.
Karlie Elizabeth Kloss was born on August 3, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois, to Tracy, a freelance director, and Kurt Kloss, an emergency physician. She has three sisters: twin younger sisters Kimberly and Kariann, and one older sister Kristine. She moved to St. Louis with her family in 1994. In 2013, the family moved to Goshen, New York to support her modeling career.
Kloss was discovered at a local benefit runway show in 2005. In 2006, at the age of 14, she posed for a cover and editorial shoot for the June issue of Scene Magazine in Chicago with photographer David Leslie Anthony, in an editorial spread titled "Almost Famous". Elite Model Management Chicago then forwarded these tear sheets to their New York office, who signed her.
Kloss's first credited modeling shoot was photographed by Arthur Elgort for Teen Vogue. One of her first modeling stints was for Abercrombie Kids when she posed for the brand's photography shot by Bruce Weber. In January 2008, she left Elite Model Management and signed with Next Management. She walked 31 runways in New York Fashion Week, notably walking as an exclusive for Calvin Klein, closing for Marc Jacobs, opening Carolina Herrera, and occupying both spots at Doo.Ri. After New York, she walked 20 shows in Milan, and 13 in Paris for the fall 2008 collections, with 64 shows in a single season.
Kloss has appeared in editorials for American and Korean W, American Elle, Allure, i-D, French and Japanese Numéro, Vanity Fair, Dazed & Confused; and American, Australian, Italian, French, British, Korean, German, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Portuguese, Teen, and Latin American editions of Vogue magazine. She notably appeared on 12 international Vogue covers, including Vogue Italia, in a five-year span. She appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue, alongside Chanel Iman and Ali Michael in February 2008, and by herself in May 2010.
Kloss found herself in the middle of a legal dispute when Elite Model Management, believed they were responsible for launching her career sued Next Management for allegedly stealing her away by offering 'improper compensation' to sign. The case was eventually settled out of court. After four years of being represented by Next Management, Kloss signed with IMG Models (also leaving Mother Model Management in St. Louis). Vogue Paris declared her one of the "top 30 models of the 2000s" in 2009.
Kloss attended Webster Groves High School in Webster Groves, Missouri, where she was a cheerleader during her freshman year and graduated in 2011. In September 2015, she enrolled in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study of New York University.
Kloss renewed her contract with Christian Dior for the third season in a row in 2011. Photographer Gabrielle Revere was commissioned by Life magazine to photograph Karlie Kloss for the cover of a special print issue handed out during New York Fashion Week in September 2011. The photo story inside the issue was photographed during the summer of 2011, and shows her at the couture shows in Paris, in New York City, and in St. Louis, her hometown. The same year, she made her debut in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
In 2012, Kloss was featured on the September covers of British Vogue, Japanese Vogue, Harper's Bazaar Russia, and Numéro. She appeared in the campaign ads of Juicy Couture, Stefanel, Elie Saab, and Jean Paul Gaultier. She co-hosted the revival of the MTV series House of Style with fellow model Joan Smalls. She also appeared in that year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, but one of her outfits was cut out of the broadcast after appearing in a Native American headdress that was deemed offensive. Just before the Victoria's Secret Fashion in 2012, Kloss had her long hair cut into a bob which is famously called the "Karlie".
Kloss began dating businessman and investor Joshua Kushner in 2012. She got engaged to Kushner in July 2018, a month after she had converted to Judaism (Kushner's religion). The couple married on October 18, 2018, in upstate New York. In June 2019, Kloss and Kushner had a second wedding celebration in Wyoming. Through her marriage, she is related to Kushner's elder brother Jared and his wife Ivanka Trump, who are members of the family of Donald Trump. She has stated that she finds it "frustrating [...] that the spotlight is always shifted away from [her] career toward [her] relationship".
In 2013, Kloss was the face of Donna Karan, Lacoste, and Lanvin campaigns. Kloss worked with Victoria's Secret on their 2013 summer swimwear video. She was also the red carpet host of the 2013 MTV Movie Awards pre-show. In April, Kloss starred alongside Daria Strokous, Monika Jagaciak, and Iris Strubegger in Louis Vuitton's Alma bag campaign. In 2013, Kloss was named as one of the new ambassadors for Coach, Inc. and starred in the accessory maker's fall 2013 campaign.
Kloss is also a computer programmer, having studied Ruby on Rails and other web development technologies at Flatiron School in 2014. In April 2015, she partnered with Flatiron School and Code.org to offer an annual scholarship called Kode with Klossy for young girls interested in computer science and software engineering. In 2015, she also launched the Kode with Klossy, a two-week summer coding camp for girls from ages 13–18 which taught the basics of numerous programming languages such as Ruby, JavaScript, and Swift. By 2018, the camp had expanded to include "50 coding camps in 25 US cities, teaching 1,000 girls to code". By the end of the program, participants had built fully functional mobile apps or websites.
Kloss was the face of Jean Paul Gaultier, Nike, Donna Karan, Lancaster, and the Chanel Coco Noir fragrance campaigns in 2014. She also collaborated with Frame Denim to design the Forever Karlie jeans collection. In summer 2014, Kloss worked with Warby Parker to design the Karlie Kloss x Warby Parker eyewear line, proceeds of which benefited Edible Schoolyard NYC. In September 2014, after many speculations, L'Oreal Paris officially announced that they have signed Kloss to be the newest face. In the September 2014 issue of American Vogue, she was featured on the cover with Joan Smalls, Cara Delevingne, Arizona Muse, Edie Campbell, Imaan Hammam, Fei Fei Sun, Vanessa Axente, and Andreea Diaconu as "The Instagirls!"
In 2015, Kloss covered the March issue of American Vogue with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Kloss portrayed the role of "Knockout" in the music video for Swift's song "Bad Blood" which premiered at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards. Kloss appeared in several video segments during Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour and appeared live on stage with Swift at the performance of June 27, 2015 at London's Hyde Park, as well as on July 11, 2015, at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Kloss also starred in the music video for Chic's "I'll Be There", which was directed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. On July 21, 2015, Kloss started her own YouTube channel, Klossy, which features weekly vlogs and Q&A videos. Kloss is a close friend of filmmaker Casey Neistat, who assisted her in starting up on YouTube.
In May 2016, Kloss was named the new face of Swarovski, replacing fellow Victoria's Secret alumna Miranda Kerr, for a two-year contract. In April 2017, she appeared as a correspondent on the Netflix series Bill Nye Saves the World. Kloss was featured in Vogue's March 2017 issue. The spread was criticized by some as a form of cultural appropriation as she appeared styled as a geisha. She later posted a public apology. In Fall 2017, Kloss announced her TV show, Movie Night with Karlie Kloss, airing on Freeform in winter 2017. On May 24, 2017 Kloss won the Diane von Furstenberg Inspiration Award.
She supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election. Kloss and her husband attended the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. in protest of gun violence in the United States in March 2018. She is a feminist, and has stated that her decision to leave Victoria's Secret was partly motivated by her beliefs. Kloss supported Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election.
In April 2018, Kloss was announced as Estée Lauder's newest Global spokesmodel and Brand Ambassador. The company is committed to supporting her initiative "Kode with Klossy" through scholarships and events. In October 2018, Kloss confirmed that she would be stepping in Heidi Klum's shoes on the seventeenth season of Project Runway as the host and executive producer: "I could not be more excited to host and produce a series that provides a platform to aspiring American designers as they pursue their creative and entrepreneurial dreams." She narrated the season 2 episode "Coding" on the Netflix and Vox Media television show Explained in October 2019. Models.com has said that Kloss "represents the gold standard of modeling—a girl with the look, the poise, and the drive to take things to the next level", and she ranks on their "New Supers" and "Money Girl" lists.
Apart from modeling, Kloss has an interest in technology and has founded the "Kode with Klossy" camp, which aims to get young girls interested in STEM fields. In 2019, she became host of the reality competition television series Project Runway. She has signed with several top modeling agencies throughout her career including Elite Model Management, Next Management, IMG Models, and The Society Management.
Kloss collaborated with Momofuku Milk Bar to create 'Karlie's Kookies,' a special recipe sold at DKNY Soho during Fashion's Night Out in New York City, with proceeds benefiting hungry children worldwide through FEED Projects, where 10 meals were donated for every tin of cookies sold. She also led a group of high profile investors who purchased fashion magazine W in 2020. In November 2023, Kloss acquired British fashion magazine i-D from Vice Media Group and became its chief executive officer. She is also an investor in probiotic company Seed. In 2020, Kloss was named a trustee of Barnard College for a term of four years. In March 2024, she, accompanied by her husband Joshua, initiated the revival of Life magazine for print and digital distribution through Bedford Media, in partnership with Dotdash Meredith.
In October 2020, it was reported that Kloss and Kushner were expecting their first child. Their first child, Levi Joseph, was born on March 11, 2021. She announced her second pregnancy with Kushner during the Met Gala in May 2023. Their second child, Elijah Jude, was born on July 11, 2023. In December 2020, the couple purchased a home in Miami, Florida for US$23.5 million.