Vogue Interview: Heidi Klum and Michael Kors
It's only 8:00, but in Los Angeles the awards season has begun, and as you walk into the Beverly Hills Hotel on the morning before the Golden Globes Gala, some nominees are already on their way. The door to the Garden Suite opens, and Michael Kors walks in with his arms outstretched. His inexhaustible insider stories and his sharp tongue, coupled with his bear-like friendliness, make him an ideal party guest. "Heidi, you look great! Is that your own hair?" He strokes her thick blond tresses and recommends to her one of the wigs from his collection that's just like Raquel Welch. Heidi Klum smiles, shakes her head, obviously not convinced by his proposal. He insists with a grin, "Why? Even Jessica Simpson sold her plastic hair extensions very successfully!"
That Heidi Klum separated from her husband of nearly seven years, Seal, is, at the time of this meeting, not a subject. This Vogue interview took place a few days before the official announcement was made.
Heidi Klum: Why don't you take your sunglasses off?
Michael Kors: Because I have "Restylane" spots, darling. I'm old. That's why I let myself be sprayed in the face, and now I have bruises. But, we should have a serious talk. As I said, you look ravishing, I would like to take pictures while sitting in the shade, you are too beautiful. Do you remember when we met for the first time?
Heidi: I remember it exactly! It was at a casting in Paris when you were a designer for Celine. I wanted to be one of the models in your fashion show.
Michael: Was I nice?
Heidi: You were really, very nice because, back then, most people would have rejected me right on the spot because I wasn't thin enough.
Michael: But you had boobs!
Heidi: Boobs and hips, in the time of Heroin-Chic, were not in demand, unfortunately.
Michael: A dark era...
Heidi: In all the test photos, they left out the makeup and the hair was all disheveled. It was all about slouching. The hunched posture doesn't work for me. I'd walk through the door confident and cheerful. Well, maybe I was a bit more shy than I am today.
Michael: Come on, you were never shy!
Heidi: I still remember that time - you put me in a bathing suit.
Michael: Of course, I love curves! Probably what happened was Lance and the others in the room said, "Her tits are too big!" After you left the room, an argument broke out, but I thought you were hot!
Heidi: So, why didn't you book me?
Michael: Blame the others! Don't blame me - I would always dress the same type, I mean: who else today provides the range from Barbara Walters to Michelle Obama?
Heidi: Yeah, yeah. I know that some of the stylists have great influence over you designers. Sometimes they prefer certain girls and give them more important outfits than the others.
Michael: The Russian and Brazilian models don't put up with anything. They have a strong rivalry. When they come for a fitting for a fashion show, they want to know exactly what order they will go out there, and whether they will wear a significant look.
Heidi: I did the same thing! I wanted to feel that I would be on the runway with a "wow-factor". It's really hard when you are used as a "filler". Every runway show is a story that starts with a bang, then alternates between highlights and quiet moments. The girls never want to be one of the "filler" looks. You need the right outfit to have a big fashion moment.
Michael: I beg to differ. I once put Gisele Bundchen in a black turtleneck sweater, black pants, and flat shoes. She came up to me and asked me, in her great South American accent, "You are putting Gisele in that?" To cover her up was something special.
Heidi: It was great to not always be booked for the obvious.
Michael: What was your best moment in my clothes?
Heidi: The best one I remember was a red dress I wore when I went out for the first time after Leni was born. I still felt like I was as big as a house. And it had all these things draped around, yet somehow at the end it didn't look like a huge muumuu.
Michael: You looked fantastic in it!
Heidi: Say, Michael: You've been married to Lance for six months now. How do you feel?
Michael: It's great! Look at my ring. The diamonds are enclosed on the inside but invisible from the outside.
Heidi: Why is that?
Michael: I'm just very reserved.
Heidi: I would have liked to be one of your bridesmaids. I always wanted to be put in one of those lilac-colored outfits...
Michael: If I had a large wedding party, since you were married, strictly speaking, you would have been the maid of honor or a matron, with a big hump. So it was for the best that I was burned out.
Heidi: I could have tied a pillow to my back!
Michael: I can imagine it now. It's funny - I never thought about getting married, even when the law changed in New York.
Heidi: Probably because you lived as a couple for a long time without a certificate.
Michael: For ten years. You girls dream from an early age about having a huge festival. Even Anna Wintour asked, "Can I throw rice at your wedding?" Lance and I just wanted to put on a pair of shorts and go to the beach, while you women were brimming with enthusiasm and ideas.
Heidi: I just love parties. I try to enjoy life and create memories. The older you get, the faster the years go by. And, suddenly, it's Christmas again and all of a sudden it's back to your birthday. And I have the feeling that life goes by too fast, if you don't lay down...
Michael: ...anniversaries, parties, celebrating all these things that structure the year? You're right! You could also be an event planner, your parties are so good.
Heidi: I think it's great to take people out of their normal environment and routine. And when they get all dressed up, they change. Did you see what I wore for Halloween this year?
Michael: Yes! Incredible, that muscle and bone costume. I went as a zombie version of a mariachi musician, but unfortunately, I came out looking like an old-age Latino star. But I love the absolute transformation!
Heidi: You can vary the volume. I always get really excited about it. And I prefer to be a little bit ugly. I can't really do the sexy nurse look, since I've spent half of my life in a G-string, covering my boobs with my hands.
Michael: But, does your heart always beat a little bit faster from excitement over Hollywood parties?
Heidi: Yes, I always love those! Where I come from, these parties always seemed like they were too far away. I never thought that one day, I would be at the Golden Globes, the Oscars or the Grammys sitting next to Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor or Liza Minnelli.
Michael: My first big party was a Ball for the Costume Institute of New York's Metropolitan Museum. Vera Wang was at my side, wearing some of my clothes. I had just turned 20, and had to borrow a tuxedo from one of my friends. On my way there, I ran into the legendary Yves Saint Laurent and Diana Vreeland, I couldn't speak - it was just magical for me. Then, as if it should be even crazier and more impressive, after dinner we were walking through the museum, and it started to snow. All at once, the whole society party became quiet, and everyone was asking, "What's going on?" John Lennon had just been shot. I will never forget that night and it's intensity. Today, the festivals come and go and, unfortunately, I've gotten used to the specialness of them.
Heidi: But, something always goes wrong. For example, you spill something on your dress in the limo, and you have to dry it off in the wind.
Michael: So, you're still nervous when you step out of the car?
Heidi: No, just when I have to read off of a teleprompter.
Michael: You'd prefer to not talk with one!
Heidi: If I start to stutter, it just gets worse. I just think "I want out of here!" and I'd prefer to sink into the ground!
Michael: Do you know how many people say to me, "You are so good in Project Runway! You can remember everything so well!" But we are just babbling in front of each other!
Heidi: And how many hours does it take to record 15 minutes of the show?!
Michael: Right! And everything that's mean is saved, because that's what's exciting.
Heidi: To be honest, sometimes I just can't find anything nice to say.
Michael: I'm right there with you. Because of Project Runway, I have developed an editor's eye, cutting out all the boring. Since then, my fashion shows go a lot faster. Are you doing more to become a designer from our reality show?
Heidi: I've already designed jeans, swimsuits, Birkenstocks, and a few other things, and I have a few more things that are coming up.
Michael: Ah, so it's "Heidi, Inc."?
Heidi: Fashion has always been a passion of mine. Before I won the modeling contest, I wanted to study design in Dusseldorf. Since then, I have learned a lot from modeling over 19 years. Can you imagine? I started out as a fitting-model for an American catalog.
Michael: Where you really honest about what you thought of the looks?
Heidi: Yes, and at the beginning, they just casually dismissed my comments, but later, they would implement some of my changes.
Michael: That reminds me of Stephanie, the "Queen of the Fitting-Models". She had a stunning figure and a big mouth. I learned a lot from her. When she was trying on clothes, she would say, "I couldn't get a taxi to stop for me in this!", "I can't sit in this!", "I can't bend down!" You really had to take notice. I felt lost when she stopped working in her late fifties. A few years later, I went to Paris to design for Celine, and they had all these mannequins standing around with Stephanie's body. The people who ran the studio said, "They are fitting-models custom built with perfect proportions." Stephanie was with me, so I knew everything would go well...
Heidi: Another one of your wonderful stories - Project Runway would be so boring without you! Who would have thought the show would be so successful?
Michael: I knew early on when I went to a Rolling Stones concert and Rashida Jones congratulated me on the show and told me that her mother, Peggy Lipton - a style icon - and even her father, Quincy Jones, watched the show regularly. Quincy Jones!
Heidi: I have to say, as fashion professionals, you and Nina took on a bigger risk than I did at the beginning.
Michael: Yeah, an embarrassing reality show would have destroyed my credibility. Back then, there wasn't any fashion on reality TV.
Heidi: Do you remember the first season, when there was a constant haze of cheesy snack food powder in the air, because we didn't have the budget for proper food?
Michael: But, it got better. We've worked our way up to Nobu sushi.
Heidi: Or the health juice!
Michael: Creepy, the drinks these days! You cannot convince me to try those energy drinks. The only thing you could do would be to put a cheeseburger in a blender for me. Then, look at you and look at me... From nothing comes nothing!
Heidi: The juice keeps me fresh.
Michael: Your energy is incredible! You make everything seem so effortless.
Heidi: From the outside, everything may look super easy. At the moment, I'm spending a lot of time at my desk, designing something that will come out in September. People think that it's only my name on it.
Michael: I also find it funny when people ask me if I design everything down to the little details. Yes! Until the very last button, even the zippers. It's the details that matter. But I think, we may not always see when someone really makes an effort. Even when you were pregnant, everything looked easy.
Heidi: In the evenings, I fall into bed exhausted. Then my battery is plugged into the charger, and it means business.
Michael: I can always tell right away when you are pregnant. I look at your boobs...
Heidi: Well, Hans and Franz can never keep anything to themselves.
Michael: My idea of how a woman dresses when she's pregnant changed because of you. You were the first one who did not hide her belly under tent-dresses or stay at home.
Heidi: You still have to struggle with your body even after the pregnancy.
Michael: You did not have to struggle! Ten days later and you were back...
Heidi: But those ten days were a struggle!
Michael: Oh, you poor thing! All joking aside, I think the phenomenon of agelessness in vogue at the moment is the most exciting. You can see a 20-year-old with the elegance of a mature woman or a 55-year-old in a Lycra mini-dress with hair down to her waist.
Heidi: Right. Some people probably think my skirts are a little too short.
Michael: Do you think people should dress more according to their body, or their age?
Heidi: According to attitude. I will turn 40 next year, but I don't think of myself as a middle-aged mom who stays in the kitchen with a twin-set on.
Michael: So, you wear a tight zebra bikini instead? Really, do you dress to impress other women or to impress a man?
Heidi: Neither. My motto has always been: I'm not here to blend in.
Michael: Plus, you've never met a rhinestone you didn't like, right?
Heidi: Are you thinking about the "shattered disco ball" that I wore to the Oscars in 2011? Those large, sparkly earrings and Louboutins that were covered in rhinestones all over, with the extra-extra-high heels.
Michael: They looked like hooves?
Heidi: Exactly, but I have gone out in ones that were considerably worse.
Michael: Yeah, I've seen you in some...
Heidi: Would you tell me when I am too old to be a fashion joke? Because when I look at myself in the mirror, I always think I look totally hot in it. Only a few friends dare to tell me the truth.
Michael: You can be sure of that! When I was five years old, I told my mother that her wedding dress had too many bows and ribbons - although my grandmother thought it was great.
Heidi: And she actually listened to you?
Michael: Yes. We found a better one. I was probably not a normal 5-year-old. I also changed my name back then.
Heidi: You were originally called Karl Anderson, right?
Michael: Yeah, "junior". My nickname was "Chuck". After my mother left Mr. Anderson and married Mr. Kors, I changed my first name at the same time. I thought that "Michael" sounded like a name from the world - very grown-up - and I liked it. What was it like growing up with the name "Heidi"?
Heidi: Everyone thinks of the girl from the mountains, with Peter and the goats, and it's something they immediately brand you with.
Michael: It's like a cult.
Heidi: Today, I believe that I've done more with my life, since I had to put up with that crap from an early age. And I think "Heidi" is a good fit for me: cheerful, a little bit unusual, a little bit naive, a developed sense of humor. I wouldn't trade it in. But "Kors" is really a beautiful, rare last name.
Michael: Mr. Kors was eventually replaced by a third, blue-eyed Swedish husband. But the dress still looks great in the pictures!
Heidi: You're mother was a model?
Michael: Yes, and I was, too. Imagine if you and Leni went to auditions together! Back then, New York was different place. I grew up outside of Manhattan, and my mother and I would go into town together, me with my portfolio, and she with hers. Sometimes she put me in a taxi alone - you could do that back then - and I would go to meet my agent.
Heidi: You did commercials?
Michael: Exactly, and my mother's fashion, beauty and hair. When I was about four, her hair was colored baby pink for a photo shoot, and when she came home with this baby pink hair, I said, "Mommy, you're beautiful!"
Heidi: I haven't thought too much about child modeling. My children have their own personalities, and if they developed a passion for something, I wouldn't put any obstacles in their way. But I wouldn't influence them to go into show business.
Michael: When I first met Karolina Kurkova, she was only 14, but she was as mature as a 25-year-old.
Heidi: Her mother was always there, anyway.
Michael: It's a very tough world to get into if you are that young. Now, it's mandatory in New York that girls have to be at least 16.
Heidi: My family always had an eye on what I was up to. I was very protected, and was really afraid to get into trouble. Can you believe that two months ago was the first time I saw someone using cocaine?
Michael: You're just one of those buttoned-up, good girls. Just like me! Come on, let's go to the pool!
Heidi: I've never been to the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Michael: Of course you've been there already.
Heidi: When was that?
Michael: When you fell in, Darling. With all your clothes on...
