A German Superstar in the making: Why Leni Klum is suddenly omnipresent

Leni Olumi Klum, her full name, has made it to just 90 posts (at the time of this article's publication) and yet already has well over 800,000 Instagram followers. The Internet, social media, and the rest of the world are enraptured when the 17-year-old grins into the camera with elbow-length hair and googly eyes. That "Petite Klum" has model qualities and star potential is indisputable, but also not extraordinary. 

With German and U.S. citizenship, she has been a globetrotter since birth, has collected more air miles than many a corporate CEO, and is on a first-name basis with the greats of (German) show business, because it's family business. In view of the fact that Mama Klum has been hosting "Germany's Next Topmodel," probably the highest-rated show in Germany since "Wetten, dass...?" for more than a decade and is a household name in the U.S. with "Project Runway," it's safe to assume that Leni Klum learned early on what makes a "walk" or a good pose.  

But for that, Leni Klum has enough other opportunities to put her own footprints on as yet untouched terrain. There is, for example, an ice cream parlor, which she has chosen for a holiday job in the summer of 2021. "Incredibly down-to-earth" headlined the German tabloid and immediately mentions that she was behind the counter of "Happy Ice" in the U.S., where she chose the pineapple mango ice cream as her favorite at a branch in L.A. and immediately shared this via an Instagram post. It is not known how long Leni Klum wielded the ice cream spoon, but it's hard to believe that this was a product placement.

Let's get back to the topic: Dynasty. And yes, here we also have to talk about the royalty points. So who is Leni Klum's father?

Leni Klum, who springs from a relationship with F1 boss Flavio Briatore and Heidi Klum, was born into a family that breathes show business. It starts with her grandfather, Günther Klum, who took the models from his daughter's casting show under contract at his agency. Then, in 2020, when he registered the naming rights to his granddaughter (and even her nickname), storm clouds gathered in the Klum empire. The outcome was settled behind closed doors. Since then, the grandfather has been sulking on Instagram.

No less prominent are the two stepfathers: U.S. pop star Seal and "Tokio Hotel" singer Bill Kaulitz, who themselves know the entertainment business inside out. All in all, a German Kardashian family, but without a reality show (yet). After all, there is currently no other show with international name recognition that could hold a candle to the Klum clan. How convenient, too, that the fashion industry would be dominated by "daughters of". So a Leni Klum fits perfectly into the testimonial squad of celebrity kids, ranging from Kaia Gerber, Hailey Baldwin to Gigi and Bella Hadid or Kendall Jenner, who dominate the big advertising deals. And who would fit in better than a Leni Klum? The fact that Leni Klum, with a height of 1.68 m, would be too small for modeling is not a big deal. Stars are rarely made on the catwalk anymore ...

Luxury jewelry brand Chopard has just recently presented the new campaign with Leni Klum in which Hollywood stars like Julia Roberts participate. Not a bad start for the young model. She presents the new watches for the Happy Sport series.

Hard work. That's Heidi Klum's recipe for success, and she's had a firm grip on the fashion (l)world since the '90s with German grit. For years the "house model" for Peek & Cloppenburg, she has also made it into the ranks of the "Victoria's Secret" supermodels from where, together with Tara Banks, she founded the zero hour of the "Angels". Married in first marriage to hairdresser Ric Pipino, it was after the divorce pop star Seal, whom she met in a hotel lobby - so the story goes. 

She had a rather brief relationship with Flavio Briatore, father of Leni Klum. The sunshine from Bergisch Gladbach built her career primarily on German television. For years, she was the testimonial for beauty chain Douglas, but it wasn't until the first season of "Germany's Next Topmodel" on Pro7 that she really took off. That was in 2006, and there have since been no less than 16 seasons of the successful format, which has always been accompanied by criticism from all sides. Heidi Klum didn't mind. She continued undeterred, never letting on, and filmed another successful format in the U.S.: "Project Runway. The reality show about design talent produced designers like Christian Siriano. It continued in succession with "America's Got Talent" and "Queen of Drags" (again in Germany).