Heidi Klum Reflects on How 1998 SI Swimsuit Cover Elevated Her Career

The supermodel recently spoke about her trajectory in the modeling industry with ‘Grazia.’

Heidi Klum.David M. Benett/Getty Images

Supermodel Heidi Klum landed the cover of Grazia’s 15th print edition, and while we’re blown away by the images captured by Kristian Schuller, we couldn’t wait to dive into the star’s accompanying feature story.

The 50-year-old television host and mom of four revealed to the publication that as a child, she dreamed of becoming a dancer and being on Broadway. We sure are thrilled that Klum’s career led her to the modeling industry, and to the pages of the SI Swimsuit Issue repeatedly.

Klum’s first SI Swimsuit photoshoot took place in the Maldives in 1998, and her work with photographer Robert Erdmann earned her the coveted spot on the magazine’s cover that year. While speaking with Grazia, Klum stated that after landing the front of the publication, she was thrown into the public eye.

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“I would walk into a restaurant, and people’s heads would turn and they would start whispering, ‘Isn’t that the girl from the Sports Illustrated cover?’ So, I could definitely feel all of this rumbling and whispering,” Klum told the outlet. “It propelled me into more of a household name in America, and appearances on TV shows followed. As there was no social media in that day, everyone watched The David Letterman Show, or The Jay Leno Show, or Spin City with Michael J. Fox (I played his love interest for six episodes).”

After that first SI Swimsuit photoshoot in the late 1990s, Klum went on to appear in eight more annual magazines with the brand, including a “legends” photoshoot to celebrate the publication’s 50th anniversary in 2014.

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