Heidi Klum: That’s why the model can’t shine in Paris

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Nothing works anymore on Rue Auber in Paris. The street is congested, loud honking and the screaming of waiting fans. The French jewelry company Messika presents the new diamond collection at a catwalk show here. But with the star line-up, the fancy stones are almost secondary: Ronaldo’s wife Georgina Rodríguez and actress Isabelle Adjani came, as did US rapper Cardi B. She sits in the front row in a skin-tight diva robe and with a fifties tower hairstyle. “Hiiiiii,” she says with the width of bubblegum and in a squeaky voice. It is only with difficulty that stewards can keep the photographers and guests away from her. Due to the crowd, some stumble over the catwalk, others jump onto the benches.

Another couple almost gets lost in the tumult: Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz. The model and her husband are also currently in Paris, but at the Messika show they are not sitting with the superstars, but in an adjacent block. An affront? Maybe, after all, the French don’t care much about German celebrities.

The fact that you don’t recognize her immediately is also due to her look: instead of wearing bright clothes and lots of bare skin, Klum appears in black from head to toe. Her coat is from Vetements, her make-up is more subtle than ever, and the overall look is très Parisienne. “She finally doesn’t look like an “Emily in Paris” copy,” whispers someone in the audience.

Heidi Klum: Paris suits her well

Klum without Hollywood glamour? An unusual picture, but not one that doesn’t suit her. You could also say: Paris is good for her. The 51-year-old showed this at the beginning of fashion week when she appeared at the show of L’Oréal, the large French cosmetics manufacturer for which she is now advertising. She walked the catwalk wrapped in a black patent dress and also appeared on Instagram in an elegant robe.

The fashion metropolis was never Klum’s place. Be it Chanel or Louis Vuitton – none of the big luxury brands ever booked her for their shows. “She was never in Paris, we don’t know her,” Karl Lagerfeld once blasphemed about the German model. But Klum didn’t need the tailwind of the European fashion scene. She built up her own brand and still earns millions from it today.

Maybe that’s why she was able to get over the fact that she wasn’t in the foreground at a recent photo shoot with her new advertising partner. He had lined up all of his brand ambassadors on the steps of the Paris Opera. But instead of posing in the front row, Klum’s head only peeked out in the third row. In front of her stood the models Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne, as well as the actresses Eva Longoria and Iris Berben.

The fact that Klum has to share the attention with superstars like Cardi B at the Messika event doesn’t seem to bother her. Without doing an extra loop in front of the photographer, she strolls to the back exit with her husband Tom Kaulitz. Your next stop in the evening: the celebrity bar “L’ Avenue”. At least there she is safe from the flashbulbs.