“This Was the Met Gala I Broke the Internet. But Not in a Good Way”—Karlie Kloss Reflects Back on Her Life in Looks

I almost burnt the house down,

but I did book the show, so I guess it was memorable.

[upbeat music] Hi, Vogue.

I m Karlie Kloss and this is My Life In Looks.

[exhales] I m a little nervous.

Look number one, oh, this is a good place to start.

This was Calvin Klein, September, 2007,

and it was the very same week

that I started my freshman year of high school.

So I started school on Monday,

and by Friday I was in New York,

meeting with Francisco Costa,

the designer of Calvin Klein at the time.

And I really had never been to New York Fashion Week.

I d only been to New York maybe once at this point,

I m 15 years old.

And I remember, when I got the phone call,

I was standing on the corner of 35th and 7th with my mom,

and we were, like, both, like, huddled around

this tiny little cell phone.

And my agent was like, Karlie, you booked the exclusive.

My mom and I just looked at each other,

like, we have no idea what that means,

but this is good, right?

This is good.

I remember stepping off this runway

and feeling like something special had happened,

and it was pretty much overnight.

I had a career because of this Calvin Klein runway show.

Woo, this one was one of my favorites

that I had the privilege to walk in,

in an Alexander McQueen show.

It s like a flood of memories coming back to me.

So I remember moments before

I was walking out on this runway show, it felt so special.

I knew, kind of, what a privilege it was

to be wearing this big dress,

and I was so excited to kind of get out there

and be a part of this experience, this performance.

You know, there was a big trash heap covered in black paint.

And, and I said to Lee, I said, I m so nervous.

I really hope I don t ruin your show,

because I might trip.

This dress kept getting caught under my heel.

And he said, Karlie, if you trip, own it.

You own the dress, the dress does not own you.

And that is something that I have carried with me forever

and we ll never forget him saying.

And I did, I tripped, the dress got caught under my heel,

and I replayed his words in my head,

and I took the dress, and I threw it out

in a very dramatic way.

And it actually became imagery

that became the campaign for that season.

Meanwhile, I was, like, worried I was gonna ruin the show,

and it turned into a very special moment.

But I had this Hannah Montana life

as I like to explain it, best of both worlds situation,

where I was, like, a total normal, lame nerd in Missouri,

that I loved that part of my life

just as much as, kind of, jet setting to Paris.

Had an apartment in New York as a 15, 16, 17-year-old kid.

Okay, what s next?

Oh, I love this image.

Okay, this was another whirlwind experience.

This image went alongside a story called I Karlie.

This portrait was shot by Annie Leibovitz

for September, 2009, very big deal.

Because I was 15 years old when I started my career,

all throughout, kind of my teenage years,

I would have my mom, my aunt, my grandmother,

my English teacher, anybody come with me on these shoots.

And I have my amazing high school teacher, Ms. Brewster,

who was, like, my partner in crime

jet setting to like haute couture Paris Fashion Week.

And she would come with me

and we both kind of would look at each other,

like, I can t believe we get to do this.

Ms. Brewster is still very much in my life.

She literally is staying with my family

in St. Louis right now.

So she s part of the fam.

This was October, 2009

for the Spring Summer 2010 runway show.

If this runway show was today,

it would feel as kind of brilliant and relevant.

This is the last time I saw Lee in person,

and I remember just the feeling backstage

of some sort of closure in some way

that I certainly didn t understand at the time.

And I did understand though,

how hard it was to walk in these shoes

because these are the armadillo shoes.

People criticized my walk in, like, sneakers,

and much less in in shoes like this.

Next one.

Oh, okay, this one was a Christian Dior

haute couture runway show.

One of the greatest privileges in my career

was actually, the relationship that I had

with John Galliano when he was designing

for the House of Christian Dior.

John and I didn t exchange a ton of words

during that period.

I almost didn t wanna ruin the dream.

I almost didn t wanna, like, open my mouth

and worry that, like, if he actually knew me,

like, would he not like me?

So I kind of just almost stayed this silent movie star

on his runways and in his atelier, and on set with him

with Steven Meisel, and I loved that.

I loved, kind of, getting lost in his characters.

And so we had this just, like, kind of love affair

of a working relationship.

My prom dress was also Dior.

Oh yeah, that was actually a really fun week.

I went to my high school prom on Friday,

and then the following Monday I went to the Met Gala,

both wearing Dior.

The relationship that I had with the House of Dior

and still have to this day,

I could not have dreamt of anybody more special

to make my wedding dress.

I also didn t think that I would have the privilege

to wear a Dior couture wedding dress,

not just for a fantasy photo shoot,

but really for my real life.

So that was really special.

Next one.

Aww, I love this one.

I was having the haircut.

This was not just, like, a staged photo.

I was actually having my hair chopped off.

And my hair was, like, such model hair.

I had walked in a thousand runway shows at this point,

and so it was all, like, dead ends

and it needed a good chop.

And so I was like,

of course, I ll chop off my hair for Vogue.

Of course.

And I m glad I did

because this was that kind of a turning moment,

I think, in my career.

Anna wanted me to keep it a secret, which I get.

She wanted the big reveal to be in January Vogue.

But the problem was that this photograph

was taken in October, and I think,

like, the next week after the shoot,

I was walking in the Victoria s Secret fashion show.

So I tried my best, I had, like, a ton of extensions

put into my hair to hide my bob, but the secret was out.

Okay, next look.

Oh my God, okay, there we go.

So this was a Victoria s Secret show where I had short hair.

I loved this look, this was Victoria s Secret 2013.

I remember every time I put it on though,

like, a thousand beads fell off.

So they were, like, constantly just sewing more,

little sequins on here.

I first walked in a Victoria s Secret show in 2011

after I had graduated high school, which was so funny

because I think that was many years into my runway career,

but it was the first time that my friends back home

had seen me on a runway and it s very cool.

Okay, next page.

Aww, oh my gosh, I love this.

This was everything.

September Vogue, I got to be on the cover.

Being on a Vogue cover is like winning the Super Bowl.

Being on a September Vogue cover

is like, you wanna Nobel Prize.

As a model, like, it doesn t get any better than that.

And so I had this incredible privilege

of being on the September Vogue cover

with Cara Delevingne and Joan Smalls.

And this was right at the time

that Instagram was kind of taking the world by storm

and transforming the fashion industry,

and what it meant to be a model,

because you could be more than just a face

in a picture in Vogue,

but you were actually becoming more and more known

as, like, who you are.

So this was, like, a turning point in the world

and certainly in my career.

Okay, next page.

Okay, I was on my way to class at NYU,

I m, like, never trying to be a cool girl.

I m just, like, living my life,

clearly, in like jeans and a sweatshirt

going to school in sandals.

What was I thinking, I don t know.

I feel so lucky that Sydney Crawford,

and Christy Turlington, and Naomi,

and so many others, Natalia Vodianova,

and Doutzen Kroes, I mean so many amazing models

that have been in my life, personally and professionally,

that I have gotten to learn from,

especially in new chapters in my life as a mom.

And they have been really, really supportive in my life

through every step.

Christy Turlington did encourage me to go to NYU

and she wrote my letter of recommendation.

So very, very fortunate.

A-ha, this was a Alaia show.

Actually, this was the last time that I saw Azzedine.

The first time that I met Azzedine Alaia was in 2011.

And being able to be in his atelier,

surrounded by these like mountains of fabric,

and most of all, just like when you re with somebody

so brilliant and so iconic,

you know, he had shaped the course of fashion.

Oh boy, okay, yes, this was the Met Gala

that I think I broke the internet, but not in a good way.

I still get trolled about this look,

where I was looking camp straight in the eye

and I still get, rightfully get trolled.

I ll accept it.

Honestly, I deserved that one.

This was May, 2019 and this was for the Met Gala

that was Camp: Notes on Fashion.

And this was a design created by Dapper Dan for Gucci.

I met Dapper Dan, actually, through an episode

of Project Runway, which I was hosting at the time.

And I did a challenge in his studio in Harlem,

and he and I really hit it off,

and I think he offered to design my dress.

Okay, next one.

Oh, this was Project Runway.

I m wearing a full Tom Brown look, still have it.

I had so much fun on Project Runway,

especially with Nina Garcia and Brandon Maxwell,

Elaine Welteroth, Christian Siriano.

And it was so fun to have a designer

like Tom Brown on the show

and to be, kind of, working with,

kind of, this next generation of talent.

Next.

Ah, Vogue World, of course.

This outfit I loved.

This was a Rick Owens look.

I remember the song that was playing was it Vogue?

Yeah, it was Vogue, of course, duh.

Vogue was playing at Vogue World, it was very appropriate.

And I think I literally, like,

pretended like I knew how to vogue.

It was like a reflex, like, I should not have done it

cause I don t know how to vogue,

but, you know, couldn t help myself.

Okay.

Ah, oh my gosh.

This was when I was very pregnant at the Met Gala.

And this is a look designed by Jonathan Anderson for Loewe.

And I loved this dress, I love this dress.

This whole, just idea of a Met Gala look,

which I learned my lesson, to take,

to really, like, do my homework and do it right.

Walking a red carpet is intimidating always.

But I don t know, I felt, like, kind of vulnerable.

I was eight months pregnant here

and I had somehow kept my pregnancy a secret.

So this was the first, like, unveil.

And during the pandemic was when I had my first son

and I didn t see anybody.

So to actually, like, see my friends

and share this exciting, good news in person,

and be able to, like, see their reactions

was really special.

So this night was, ugh, a night I will never forget.

Last but not least, I can t imagine what it s gonna be.

Aww, this was a Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen look

for the Kering Foundation.

I love these pants so much.

You can t really tell it by the picture,

but the shoes are in the pants,

and so it s like these like endless stilt legs.

I love a pantsuit.

It makes me feel very, like, boss lady, I like it.

Being back to work after having two little babies

both makes me appreciate my job

and just the magic that I get to be a part of on set.

But also I love going home to my little guys

for my real life.

I feel very lucky.

I like my glamorous life and my less glamorous life.

[upbeat music]

[pen scratching]

I wrote the quote that Lee McQueen said to me,

You wear the dress, the dress does not wear you.

Okay, Vogue, thank you so much for having me.

This has been my life in looks so far

and I can t wait to see what the next pages will look like.

Okay, bye.

[upbeat music]