Svelte Victoria’s Secret model Heidi Klum was recently criticized by a designer as being too fat to model. Wolfgang Joop said “She is no runway model! Heidi Klum is simply too heavy and has too big a bust. And she always grins so stupidly. That is not avant-garde – that is commercial!”
Heidi has shown just how commercially appealing she is by responding with class and only mild annoyance to this ridiculous criticism.
A day after German designer Wolfgang Joop’s comment that Heidi Klum is “too heavy” to be a runway model hit the Internet, the stunning bombshell was still smiling at the Victoria’s Secret flagship store on 58th St.
“Do I look like I care?” Klum asked Monday as she gave fans makeup tips using her new Spring Look kit. “I really don’t think about [Joop or what he said]. What am I supposed to say? It’s his opinion. What do you think?”
Well, personally, Heidi, we think you look hotter than ever.
[From NY Daily News]
Karl Lagerfeld criticized Heidi’s lack of high fashion experience too, saying “She was never known in France.”
This is similar to something that model Iman, the host of Project Runway Canada said about Heidi last spring, implying that she had more experience, “I’m not belittling Heidi Klum, but I have been in fashion much more than she has. Not to toot my own horn, but I have been one of the best runway girls.”
Heidi responded to that minor dig with class, too, saying “She [Iman] has done all the big big fashion shows that I’ve never done. She’s been doing it for a little while longer, and she has met all the big big designers in the world.
Heidi is 5′ 9 1/2″ and an estimated 130 pounds. She said at the time of Iman’s criticism that she knew she didn’t have the tiny body required for a high fashion model: “I never really fit in the clothes. I tried. But I never got to walk in Paris and do all the big big fashion shows.”
This is why the designers need to use models at the very least who are arguably attainably thin, like Heidi, rather than emaciated adolescents. (Although I’ve never attained that level of thinness.) Heidi is super fit and very small, and there’s a definite problem with that industry if she’s being criticized as “too heavy” for the runway.
Heidi Klum is shown on 12/8/08 at a Victoria’s Secret even. Credit: WENN
well, she never tried for high fashion and such, so joop and lagerfeld should just keep their mouths shut. she is commercial. has always been. what´s bad about that? look at her life, her career…
Of course she is too big – she has hips and boobs. Someone on this website once asked a very good question when it comes to the fashion industry – Why do we let a bunch of gay guys decide how a woman should look? Of course they are going to pick the ones that look like thin adolescent boys!
Heidi is still a stunner, no matter if she doesnt look like that teenage boy ideal.
Thats a great pic of her!! I wouldnt mind being that “Heavy” & “Busty” lol
The irony is that Karl used to be huge himself. And he really needs to shut up, his collections for Chanel have been embarassing as of late. The fashion industry is mostly run by gay men, thats why models look like 12 yr old boys.
Yes Heidi may not be a great “couture model” but that doesn’t give as*holes the right to call her, of all people “fat”.
Ah, yes, Heidi Klum is a porker, a failure– FAILURE I tell you!– as a model and fashion icon. Which is why she’s the host of one of America’s most-watched television shows season after season and Wolfgang Joop is…uh…well he’s…
Er who is he, exactly?
Runway models are not supposed to represent “how women should look”– they are supposed to represent the clothes they are wearing. Designers (gay or not) choose stick thin women in part because they DON’T look like normal women– they are super tall, thin, and usually have their hair and makeup styled in a way that completes this non-normative aesthetic. High fashion is art, it is not meant to be taken literally. Feel free to be yourself, people…
Happiness is the best revenge Heidi. Enjoy yours. I cant believe anyone is surprised about the bitchiness. This IS the world of fashion! You don’t belong to the world of fashion unless you are an underfed bitchy queen.
Javelin, you’re right in everything you said EXCEPT that super tall and thin is the only non-normative aesthetic. High fashion most of the times is just plain cr*p of a bunch of morons who think to be artists.
Those bitter queens can kiss my ass. Heidi looks fantastic.
It’s true. High fashion isn’t about the model, it’s about the clothes.
Any one of those Victoria’s Secret models are much better looking than the “High Fashion” ones and that’s why “High Fashion” doesn’t appeal to straight men. lol
which commenter here called her a “dirty tampon”?? (it was actually in re: to her and seal commenting on the elections) I know it was one of the regulars…well the fashion gods have heard you. (and BTW, that was classic)
I think she alsways looks like she has been starving herself. doesn’t she know chub is IN!!! We are in a recession, it’s a sign of wealth!
She has “big boobs” and “big hips”…..WHERE? An a cup is far from “big”.
5’9″ and 130lbs??!! That makes me feel great!!!! I’m 5’8″ and 130lbs too!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Heidi is so classy, gotta love her!
Heidi is a real woman with breast and hips Yes the high end designers are gay and design clothes for little boys who have no boobs and hips. its about time this trend Goes Away .
Who is Joop and why was he so nasty about Klum? Very mean-spirited comments. So what who cares about what idiocy fell out of his unknown mouth. Love Klum! She is a wonderful mom and GORGEOUS lovely lady. All class.
A-HA! But far more men know who Klum is than they do Iman or any other number of pipecleaners that stalk the runways.
I’ve never even heard of the guy. Fact is Heidi is a household name and always will be. All the emaciated twats walking the runways in Paris will never be more no-name clothes hangers.
Somewhat OT: Lagerfeld is known for hating the “chunk.” He’ll say anything about how fat people every where are becoming and how disgusting it is. He hates it so much because he used to be fat– ergo, he hates himself, and sees his worth in maintaining a ridiculous diet to stay slim. Automatic dismissal of anything he says.
OT: Klum is sexy, no matter what her size is.
I didn’t read all the comments here…so forgive if this has been said:
Heidi doesn’t need to be a runway modle to host a show for top models. Some of the best models [er,most successful],were not runway models per se. Yes,she could be seen as a ‘commercial model’,and I think that is the real dig from the Joop guy.
Runway models wear ‘art’-not clothes. You know? I may not like everything they wear,they may be grotesquely thin,and/or I may never want to wear the ‘fashions’ in the real world,but there is a certain art to the big runway fashions. This is why I enjoy some of the magazine ads for the big designers. For the theatrical aspect of it. Not b/c it’s pragmatic or representational of the real world.
Oh yea,tyra banks once said on her show how runways want ‘pure ethnicity’ on the runways,but magazines and commercial shoots want mixed ethnicity,and the mixed are the ones who pay the most. [this was a show about how lighter skin black gets preferential tx.]
Anyway,I think she missed the mark,but used to example to further her show.
The commercial shoots try to appeal to everyone;the runway high end shows are not trying to appeal to everyone,nor even sell to the masses. They aim to shock,intrique,inspire,etc. their ‘art patrons’.
Sure,those styles will influence the street fashion of the masses down the line,just like picasso has prints sold at yard sales now adays A La poster format….but they are so different.
The guy’s dig was really almost a ‘fashion class war’ comment,more than about weight.
what I meant is that the commercial shoots,with mixed ethnicity in demand according to tyra,pay the highest.
It’s the equivalent of doing a woody allen film vs. a big blockbuster [just an example]….you don’t get paid as much,but you love the script/working with the director…’for the art of it’….(:
WTF! Why are all of these people trashing her all of a sudden? Heidi is beautiful ans a seemingly perrenial optimist : ) On second thought, maybe that’s why those misrerable f*ckers hate her so much!
It’s as if she’s an adult!
Just yesterday I was saying to Mr. Nonymous that I think Heidi Klum and Seal are just a stunning couple. It’s not just the way they look; it’s the way they both behave.
i wanna be fat like heidi klum
If someone like Lagerfield that looks like death insults me I would most certainly take it as a compliment!
Ps, I talk mild offense to the negative gay stereotpe above, gay men are well known for loving a woman’s breasts.
This guy is saying that she’s a commercial model, not hideously ugly.
Heidi IS commercial. This Joop guy is being stuck up about high fashion as opposed to commercial fashion.
A lot of high fashion people feel that way: basically that commercial fashion is sooo not beautiful or avante garde or interesting or “art”. And it isn’t. because it’s not made for people who like avante garde “art” to wear. They want regular clothes.
And again, javelina said it first, high fashion models are NOT supposed to be “how women look” or any type of feminine ideal. The girls are hangers. That’s it. They make them up with hair and make-up so they all look the same in the face so you’ll look at the clothes, not them.
Heidi Klum is in commercial modeling where a body and face are supposed to sell the clothes; “Look at how pretty you can be if you wear this!”
I hate to be the only negative here… but I dont like her nose?! Something just seems off about it!
@xxx: Sorry to burst your bubble there, but no, a lot of gay men don’t like women’s breasts; breasts as in the female mammary sense. They like and regard boobs as accessories or accoutrements. Some gay men find them downright gross…(the really rude darlings will sometimes even say “eeeewwww” and make a face) unless they’re implants on a tranny/she-male of course, THEN it’s okay. *insert eyeroll here*
Baholicious, sorry you’re so angry but I disagree with you. I know plenty of gay men and none of them are grossed out by the female anatomy. They admire a woman’s beauty.
I see the gay haters are going to come out so I’m not reading this thread anymore. Life is way too short to get angry about nothing at all:( Hope you feel better.
Only a gay man will find a problem with boobs.
and those ultra-thin models are not really attractive.
They look stoned or as if they are about to faint any minute.
Baholicious, I disagree with you too. I am friends with a few gay guys and they LOVE my breasts and figure. (not bragging!!!). They admire the beauty of a female figure, not find it disgusting. I mean, it doesn’t attract them, but they know when a girl is hot or not.
Okay…Let’s face reality. It doesn’t make someone a “gay hater” to admit and deal with the true fact that most gay men are not fans of the female boob.
The “I know a lot of gay men” comment is stupid. So do I. The gay men I’ve known and loved (in a platonic sense) have kept pictures of male anatomy on their walls…not boobs. I am large-breasted, and many of my gay male friends would “A-frame” hug me because they didn’t like being touched by my chest in a hug. It was almost neurotic, and I’m coming up with three of my gay male friends over the years without even sitting to think about it really hard.
There is nothing hateful about true statements.
Some gay men love women and appreciate both genders aesthetically, I’m sure. There are many of them who do not, however, and telling Baho or anyone else who points that out that they’re wrong, hateful, blah blah blah is absolutely ridiculous.
I have gay male friends who I love dearly and who I am very certain love me back…who think the female form is “gross.”
So quit with the “hateful” name calling. It’s denial at best and…dare I say it…hateful…at worst.
I agree with Aspen, Baho. You are not “hating gays” by saying that some of them think boobs are gross. I’ve got really big natural breasts and have known gay dudes who either “ewwwwed” at them or wanted to squeeze them.
It depends on the person. I’d say “xxx” is closer to gay hating for stereotyping them all.
Rosanna,
I didn’t say tall and thin is the only non-normative aesthetic; I said it’s widely used in fashion. Other bodily aesthetics could be used if a designer was up for the challenge of meticulously fitting a collection of garments to an assortment of uniquely curvaceous forms.
I’m not angry and I live smack dab in Toronto’s gay neighbourhood, btw. I’m just relaying some of what I know to be true, not “hating.”
And Aspen, I hear you on the ‘A-frame’ hug thing, that’s for sure…
i’ve never heard of this guy, and i’m pretty up on the fashion scene. heidi klum is gorgeous, rich and married to seal. yeah, i’m sure she gives a flying fawk what some no-name designer thinks of her!
Yes, but the thing with high fashion modeling is that the models look so ridiculous that it is distracting.
I’ve looked through Vogue before, and for the most part laughed at runway photos because the designers try so hard to draw attention to the clothes by making these women look so “ugly”, that I can only focus on the outlandish hairstyles and makeup. The bones sticking out is equally distracting.
NotBlonde, my best freind from college is a lesbian so that blows that theory and I have many gay male friends. I don’t need to go into any more detail with strangers. Have a good day folks
Don’t loop all of us gay men together. I think women who look like women are totally beautiful. My 2 best female friends and my sister are all D cups. That’s not to discriminate women with smaller breasts, I mean, my fav celebrity is Michelle Pfeiffer and she’s a small chest.
Heidi Klum is definitely up there in beauty. I like fashion too, but I wouldn’t say the top fashion models are “the most beautiful.” But I will admit that they get the job done. They do look like walking mannequins. It’s just a show, people.
Same with the male runway models. I hear people say stuff like “Oh those men are too thin.” So what, they are still muscular, and most of them look GREAT. You don’t need to look steroidal to be attractive. The steroidal guys wouldn’t look right on a runway show anyway.
xxx: it doesn’t matter that you have gay friends, you basically told another person that they were gay hating because they disagreed with your personal assessment of gay people.
And that person has gay friends too. Which makes your point even more ridiculous. Everyone is different. Baho was telling her opinion about gay people she knew and you were telling your opinion about gay people you knew, except you decided that someone was “hating” because they disagreed with you.
“anastasiabeaverhausen: Those bitter queens can kiss my ass. Heidi looks fantastic.”
Damn straight! Well said, ab!
And my ass, also!
Joop is a marketing genius! Look at all the free advertising and pr he’s gotten. You guys are missing the point. It’s not about being gay or fat – it’s about generating a buzz – being noticed. It’s smart. Like Heidi said – she could care less.
PEOPLE ARE TRASHING HER because they are jealous. They perceive high fashion to be superior to commercial, but Heidi, a commercial model, is so successful and they don’t get it. They’re like “what? she fat!” because their malnourished little brains think that is the ultimate insult… tehehe. I bet Heidi makes a lot more money than they do, she’s a household name. Never even heard of half the runway models. And Karl, pfft. Nothing he says should be taken seriously… The man is extremely vain.
Wow, I wonder how Heidi sleeps at night knowing that she’s not “high fashion” enough? Oh, wait, on top of Seal and a huge stack of money!
Seriously, she is insanely lucky. She’s gorgeous. Her husband is gorgeous. Gorgeous kids. Crazy successful. No wonder Joop is miffed.
How dare she have such a great life and not be in constant peril of slipping into a straw and drowning.
And does Joop rhyme with poop? Just curious.
She’s too commercial? Did he really say that?
He needs a reality check, then. He seems to have forgotten that the entire point of models is commercialism.
And anyone who says 5′ 9 1/2″ and 130 lbs is fat is just a moron. That is actually lower that what is considered a healthy weight for her height. I’m so tired of underweight models being called fat…!!! I wish they would start using normal sized models in fashion.
And of course Iman has more experience. She is much older. Perhaps when Heidi reaches that age she’ll have a plethora of experience as well. Regardless, Ms. Klum seems to be doing alright for herself, so who cares what her critics say?
Ms Klum is beautiful.. though I can understand that other dude and Iman may prefer another sort of aesthetic (the super thin one), which is more akin to the fashion models which designers sketch on papers.
Well, to each his/her own!
She’s wobblin’ all the way to the bank!
The truth. — I’d say she’s much more attractive than a high fashion model.
I find some of the models gross to watch because they are so skinny. Some runway walks look like they were designed for a star wars android — I find a smooth presence much more appealing than a grossly skinny frame.
NotBlonde you need to reread what you wrote;-)
Being a former runway model, myself, I have BLISSFULLY enjoyed all of your comments. Even when I was stick-thin and looked ready to faint from malnourishment (and thus got all the approval from the high fashion industry), something inside kept telling me that I looked awful and so very UNSEXY.
Reading your comments, dear Celebitchy friends, is like therapy.
Not to mention some of you are f*ing HILARIOUS!
Many Thanks!
xxx: I reread what I wrote and still agree with myself. Not sure what you are getting at with that “you need to reread what you wrote”.
You all need to get over yourselves.
Thin doesn’t equal adolescent boys. You should know by now women come in all shapes and sizes. They can be tall, skinny and flat chested- naturally- not due to anorexia. For you to be insulting such women, criticising their lack of breasts (not their fault) and actually comparing them to MEN, not even men, pre-teen BOYS, is appalling and hypocritical.
What we have here is a bunch of fat jealous women, who want to see fat models and celebrities so they’ll feel better about themselves. I’m sorry. Not gonna happen. Like the other person said, fashion is art. The clothes are all set with pins, there are 3 people doing their hair, makeup etc. They are NEVER going to look like normal people. They are not supposed to. They are supposed to look unreal and angular. A fat or ‘normal’ sized woman would just look stupid on the catwalk. This guy is right. She can go in catalogues but not the runway.
When the models are finished they take the clothes off and put their jeans back on. Who actually wears those clothes? Almost no-one. It is a SHOW.
The first thing I thought when the screen started loading (I just clicked on a random link) was who the hell is this woman doing the goofiest face? What is with the big cheesy smile ?
Thin as what the designer meant and want is ridiculously hideous to normal eyes. They look like skeleton and makes the cloths look awful and ugly. I don’t understand how their mind interprets skeleton as beautiful. Go Heidi ur body looks bodylicious thats how it suppose to be!
Shes beautiful and with a great body….i think the people think the same way. This designers should know that . Im one of them …
If designers need something “angular” and “unreal,” then perhaps the use of live, actual PEOPLE should be suspended.
Living, breathing, corporeal women?
Well, unless we’re literally starving to death, we have soft lines and look MUCH more attractive than the clothing we wear.
If that’s the problem for designers and the reason that so many runway models look like pre-adolescent boys because their body fat has dropped so unnaturally low…then by all means, have the fashion industry change to some other method of theatre for their art.
The theatre of a woman’s body needs to have a little fat percentage, some excellent circulatory health, a bit of muscle tone, and enough flesh to keep the kneecaps from looking alien and the sternum from being visible through the skin.
For centuries, fashion has graced the female form. When it switched to the female form serving the clothing, instead, this tragedy of half-dead women starving to death on parade was the result.
KLaw, enjoy being your healthy self. Welcome back to personhood.
I like Heidi. She seems like a truly nice person.
PS, not being thin does not invalidate one’s argument. I might wish to look like a runway model sometimes because that’s what society pays attention to, but I don’t think it would make me happy for long. Most of the happy ones seem to have moved on to other things.
The reason Heidi was able to gracefully move past his comments is because she IS a model. She has most likely heard SO much worse at casting calls and photo shoots. ITS A PART OF THE FREAKIN JOB!
There is no big conspiracy on the part of gay fashion designers to make every woman look like a skinny stick figure. The man is a designer, what he cares about is his designs. He can’t have his designs overshadowed by some hot woman with big breasts. The designs have to be more noticeable than the person wearing them when you are dealing with Couture and runway shows.
As a designer, he knows that his clothes will look best on a hanger. So, if he is showing them at a runway show, the models need to look like moving hangers.
I seriously doubt that its personal or even really all that hurtful to Heidi. Simply because she chose this career and she if she wasn’t tough skinned when she started, she would have to be after all this time in the business.
As for Iman, she had to compete with crazy bitches like Janice Dickinson for work in a time when black models didn’t really get a lot of work. Of course, her sense of what’s going on has been tainted.
I guess, I’m trying to say, everyone needs to chill with the gay men conspiracy crap. The simple fact of the matter is that it has always been women who decide what’s attractive by what we purchase. So, if you have a problem with whats being shown to you in the magazines and on the runways, boycott and change some stuff. Otherwise, accept that the modeling industry is just like any other and it takes a special breed to consider it as a career choice.
Whoa Heidi is “attainably thin”?!! Uh she looks emaciated in the above pics. And she looks emaciated after how many kids?
I’m so sick of bitchy gay men dressing women!
I’m a big fan of Project Runway and every season it seems like Heidi’s gotten skinnier. I grew up seeing her in Victoria’s Secret ads on tv and in catalogues, and as an adolescent, I envied her volutptuous body!! She still looks great, but I miss her boobs. 🙁
Anyway, who were all the teenage guys beating off to back then? Not Kate Moss…
Heidi seems to have done a Benjamin Button…
I sort of think of young women as hungry–for experiences, for careers, for love. And just plain hungry because they are on the prowl and feel the need to look good.
Heidi looks awesome, but she is smaller than she used to be..?
A mature woman should be heavier (!) after giving birth to three kids–her reward should be enjoying her success, being in love.
Heidi looks gorgeous and sexy. Heidi has some nice curves. The other models look anorexic and that is not sexy.
Very true!
Mr Lagerfeld was quite a fattie, himself. (God knows what crazy diet he is still on.. He was so emaciated at some point, people suspected he was dying of cancer.. or aids.) His career has been built upon designing high-end clothes targetting 45+ years privileged fatties.. Who look NOTHING like the emaciated, triple zero sized, half human hangers displayed during Paris Fashion Week.
He is an insecure, narcisstic, misogynistic , megalomeniac, who just cant’ bear the idea that supermodels whose career he DIDN’T launch (unlike the Claudia Schiffer, Auermann and so on..), are still in the business.
Get over yourself, Karl.
You may be a fashion genius but you r a despicable human being. And by calling Heidi a fattie, you are an insult to 99% of female population in the Western world. Sure, Heidi is healthy.
Which is the exact reason when you need to work with dying girls from the developing world (aka Iman) OR starving 14-year-old Eastern European girls you pay minimum wage, to fit in your god-damn clothes!!
DESPICABLE !!!!
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