Karlie Kloss: Programming's New Model

“I’m having one of those ‘What is my life?’ moments,” says Karlie Kloss. “I’m sitting in a parking lot on suitcases—that I designed!”

We’re in the Playa del Rey neighborhood of Los Angeles, outside an office building with picnic tables and tents in its courtyard. Kloss, 25, is perched atop half a dozen or so Away suitcases, a near-replica of her own Instagram post where she’s sprawled across the top of a luggage trolley, en route to Paris or London or maybe Hong Kong. It’s how she spends nearly half of her life—in transit for modeling gigs, appearances, or, more recently, Kode With Klossy, her coding camp for teenage girls across the U.S. Earlier in the day, five of the scholars from her camps gathered at WeWork in Playa Vista for the first half of our photo shoot. Between camera clicks, Kloss played M.A.S.H. and word games with the girls while teaching them tricks of the trade, like how repeating the phrase “Merry Christmas” keeps your face relaxed and in a perpetual smile. “Water, food, and retouch; check your e-mail; call your agent,” Kloss joked to the girls as they marched in single-file back to the break room, every bit as lovely as her reputation suggests and then some. She was as at home with the teens as with stylist Karla Welch and hairstylist Matthew Collins, also on set. While a perfectly timed hair flip or a mischievous half-smile proves her prowess as a model, it’s her warmth and curiosity that has pulled her toward a life away from the cameras. Kloss’s initiation into the world of tech and coding was swift, mindful, and partly happenstance. “I didn’t set out to immediately make a major impact or even assume that I would be a part of it,” she says, back in New York at the offices of Kode With Klossy. “I was just watching the world—specifically the fashion world—be transformed by technology.” In a conference room at Kode With Klossy’s SoHo office, a map of the U.S. pinned with Polaroids marks each location where Kloss hosts a camp: Austin, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Detroit, among others. “Cities that I’d never been to, even growing up in America,” says Kloss. “It has been so eye-opening. I feel like I’ve had a very different kind of education through the places that I have been able to travel and people I’ve been able to meet. There’s so much that can be learned just by keeping your eyes and ears open.” These days you’ll find Kloss on an airplane as often as not. “And that’s probably being conservative,” she adds. She has her packing down to a science—compression socks, sleep mask, melatonin, extra chargers, and a toothbrush in her carry-on; and audiobooks and apps such as Dark Sky and Headspace fired up on her phone. Come mid-April, an Away x Kode With Klossy collaboration means she’ll be traveling with Gigabyte (a shade of green) and Pixel (purple) suitcases, plus a backpack and cord case of her own design, which will also come in Binary (black). “I try to get to as many camps as possible, and this summer we’re going to have a lot more,” she says. “I will be traveling domestically a lot.” Kode With Klossy is a community of girls ages 13 to 18 who attend two-week summer camps focused on the ABCs of code. The scholars gain valuable skills in front-end and back-end Web development by building their own apps. “This summer ahead is going to be really big for us,” says Kloss, alluding to the nonprofit’s plans for growth, which include expanding the number of camps, access to the curriculum, and teacher training, as well as by building year-round programming. Already, though, the impact of the camps is evident. Over 500 young women have learned to code with Kloss, many of whom have used the skills to start coding clubs of their own, win hackathons, earn scholarships to Ivy League schools, or build and fundraise around apps. “It’s awesome to not only help light that spark in someone but also to watch the spark keep lighting other people,” Kloss says. At this point, Kloss has a small fire of women primed to change the conversation about gender and tech. “They’ll enter the workforce and actually be a part of closing that opportunity gap that exists today,” she says. And here she thought she was just picking up a hobby. “We joke about it, that this is a secret language, a superpower,” says Kloss. “And there’s no limit to what they can do with it.” I remember moment I knew Karlie Kloss would be a supermodel. We are both from St. Louis, Missouri, and she went to school with my younger sister. At their sixth-grade graduation, kids in slacks and pretty dresses shuffled across a stage, collecting “degrees” meant to springboard them onto the next dull year of junior high. When the principal got to surnames beginning with “K,” Kloss stepped up, taller than every other student by a foot, amplified by red heels. Her walk, even then, was runway-ready. A murmur went through the crowd of Midwestern parents. I often think about how grateful I am that Instagram did not exist when I was in middle school. I already worried about what everyone was doing without me—perfectly filtered photos uploaded in real time most certainly would have pushed me over the edge of my preteen angst. How kids today get through a single hour of social media unscathed is beyond me, but after talking with Kode With Klossy’s scholars, it seems I need not be worried. “They have their lives as together as any 13- to 18-year-old possibly could,” says Kloss, speaking of all the girls who have attended the summer camps. “But it’s a very different world even than when I was in high school. When you meet the girls, you see how much pride they take in their skills and what they know, and I think that really shifts the narrative around how you let something like Instagram [dictate] your self-worth. It gives you an extra boost of self-esteem and self-confidence. I think that having this skill set can really be a way to express yourself.” For Kloss, too, coding is a new way to express herself—the conversation about her no longer revolves solely around her work as a model; people are talking about her contribution to women in tech. To wit, in 2018, Forbes named her to its annual list of 30 Under 30, with a cover story dubbing her “Coding’s Supermodel.” Kloss’s curiosity has snowballed into something much bigger than herself. “With Kode With Klossy, I’m realizing all the ways that we can really shake the future of the tech industry, by equipping the future leaders of our world,” Kloss says. “I really believe that these young women are the future.” With Kloss as their champion, it’s all but inevitable. (x)

Karlie Kloss Debuts Her New Kode With Klossy Offices in New York City

The 25-year-old model and entrepreneur is encouraging young women to break into tech—and has a chic new office to do it from!

Karlie Kloss took her very first coding class three years ago. In 2014, the now-25-year-old model had a short break before fashion week and decided to attend a boot camp at New York City's Flatiron School. It was meant to serve as a challenge for Kloss—not to inspire a new career.

Fast-forward to the present day: Kode With Klossy is Kloss's burgeoning charitable organization, which hosts coding summer camps for girls, awards career scholarships to young female developers, and creates a community for the role of women in tech. Now in its second year, the program has expanded from three to 15 coding camps in 10 different cities, and, perhaps equally as exciting for any young start-up, moved into its first official office. With a former Victoria's Secret Angel model for a founder (one who has graced more than 30 Vogue covers and walked 64 fashion shows in one season, no less), Kode With Klossy was going to need a little something more than the bare white walls and standard-supply furniture most tech start-ups are forced to endure in their first offices. So Kloss reached out to Homepolish and Lulu & Georgia, which partnered the model with interior designer Tina Rich. "My goal in designing this office was to create a clean, modern space that had its own personality," explains Kloss. "Since I'll be hosting my team, business partners, friends, and family in the office, it was important for the space to feel comfortable and chic, and flow from room to room."

Despite Kloss's jam-packed work and travel schedule, she didn't just hire the designer and walk away. She spent time culling resources to nail down the look she wanted and took regular weekly meetings in the Klossy offices with Rich, highlighting particular aspects of spaces she admires, from the aesthetics of her pal Emily Weiss's Glossier office to the furniture design in the Soho House in Berlin. "They have this wooden kitchen table that actually inspired me to go for a wooden piece in our conference room," she says. "Pinterest was a great resource for me. I loved researching different modern and open offices. Many of the offices I love have these amazing and intricate light fixtures, so I knew I wanted that to be a focal point of my own space."

With this direction from Kloss, Rich rolled up her sleeves and got to work. The ultimate goal? To create a space that felt more like a home than an office. "I wanted the conference room to feel like a dining room—especially since Karlie wanted to be able to host dinner parties—and the meeting room to feel like a living space," says Rich. To accomplish this, Rich chose statement-making carpets, chandeliers, and pendant lighting from Lulu & Georgia, and added unique artwork from Uprise Art to each room. Also high on Kloss's priority list was a quality kitchen. No surprise considering Kloss's now-famous gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free cookies, dubbed Klossies. "As an avid baker, it is really important for me to have a functioning kitchen in both my home and office so I can cook and bake for friends, family, and special guests," she explains. According to Rich, the kitchen was the biggest transformation: "It had dark cabinets and wood countertops. We freshened it up with Semihandmade cabinet fronts, brass hardware, and a cement tile on the face of the island. Karlie spends a lot of time in the kitchen making cooking videos! I wanted to make sure we created a kitchen that she would love spending time in and one that was the perfect backdrop for her videos." To really personalize the space, Kloss introduced antiques and personal items from home. The model calls her personal office a snapshot of her life: "I always keep a pair of sneakers and an extra makeup bag with my Carolina Herrera perfume at the office so I can head to the office before or after workouts. There are photos of my family and friends on my desk, and the drawers are filled with Klossies and healthy snacks that I can enjoy throughout the day. I keep a lot of books and fan mail around the office for inspiration, and even have my Video Music Award moon man as a paperweight!" Small additions (and subtractions) went a long way toward making the space look—and feel—completely different. "Initially, I didn't think I would need a dressing room, but with my busy schedule, we ended up installing a curtain in one of the rooms so I could change for different meetings, workouts, and events," explains Kloss. Another switch: Wooden panels in the middle of the office were removed and the walls were painted white to keep the space consistent. "I was surprised how much that little change completely opened up the room," admits Kloss. "What's great about the office is that while each room stands on its own, they all balance each other to create a collaborative, functional space." (x)

Freeform Greenlights Mermaid Drama ‘Siren,’ Movie Series From Karlie Kloss

Freeform announced at their upfront presentation Wednesday that they have greenlit the mermaid drama series “Siren,” formerly known as “The Deep,” and a new movie commentary series from supermodel Karlie Kloss.

“Siren,” which has been ordered for 10 episodes, takes place in Bristol Cove, a coastal town known for its legend of once being home to mermaids. When the arrival of a mysterious girl proves this folklore all too true, the battle between man and sea takes a very vicious turn as these predatory beings return to reclaim their right to the ocean. The series stars Alex Roe, Eline Powell, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Ian Verdun, and Rena Owen. It is based on a story by Eric Wald and Dean White who both serve as executive producers. Emily Whitesell is on board as showrunner and executive producer. Brad Luff, Nate Hopper and RD Robb are also attached as executive producers. It will premiere in summer 2018. You can watch the first trailer for the series below.

“Hollywood Movie Night With Karlie Kloss,” will feature Kloss and her friends offering commentary as they watch movies. The show is executive produced by Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions with Ben Nemtin and Duncan Penn from Four Peaks Media Group. Kloss will also executive produce under her Klossy Production banner.

The cable channel also ordered a pilot presentation for what would be its first animated series, “Sticks,” about a neurotic 20-something with a deep knowledge of pop culture. The show comes from writer and co-executive producer Jessica Stickles and executive producers Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Will Gluck, and Richard Schwartz also serving as executive producers. It is produced by Olive Bridge Entertainment and animated by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios in association with Sony Pictures Television. (x)

Karlie Kloss set to land in Sydney for a campaign shoot with David Jones

SUPERMODEL Karlie Kloss is set to jet into the country today ahead of a shoot with retail giant David Jones.

In what is the six-foot-two model’s first time in Australia, Confidential can reveal Kloss will touch down in Sydney this morning before heading out for a lavish lunch at an unknown beachside suburb.

The in-demand 24-year-old stunner will shoot for the department store’s autumn/winter 2017 campaign, alongside renowned director Ujin Lin.

The store’s star ambassador Jessica Gomes is currently in Los Angeles and not expected to shoot with Kloss, also known as Taylor Swift’s BFF.

The signing is a massive coup for David Jones, with Kloss considered one of the world’s hottest models of the moment having worked with Christian Dior, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chloe, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton.

The collaboration with the high-end model comes after David Jones was sold to South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings for 2.2 billion in 2015.

Kloss, who was a Victoria’s Secret model between 2013 and 2015, has never been Down Under before and while she’s expected to take in the city’s offerings, has a jam-packed schedule to adhere to. (x)

Karlie is one of Adweek's Young Influentials for 2016

These Marketers, Content Producers and Entertainers Under 40 Are Shaping the Industry

The 2016 class of Young Influentials features an impressive lineup of mind-blowing talent, all game changers under 40 who’ve made waves in the worlds of media, marketing, technology and entertainment. Featured on our cover is actor, writer and musician Donald Glover, who also is the creator and star of FX’s critically acclaimed dramedy Atlanta. Glover joins an impressive group of superstars, including Saturday Night Live cast member Kate McKinnon, social influencer Lele Pons, Annalect North America CEO Erin Matts and Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin. Identifying such a wide range of high achievers was no easy feat—crowdsourcing was key. This is the second year of an editorial partnership between Adweek and PopSugar in which co-founder and president Lisa Sugar served as selection committee chair alongside Adweek’s editors.

Karlie Kloss, fashion model

With countless magazine covers (Vogue, Elle), runway appearances (Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs), a social following (5.4 million followers on Instagram, plus a YouTube channel) and lucrative brand contracts (L'Oréal, Victoria’s Secret), one might think a superstar fashion model like Karlie Kloss would be quite contented.

But Kloss isn’t most models.

The statuesque St. Louis native and NYU freshman, who got her start in the fashion industry more than a decade ago after being discovered at a local runway show, is making it her business to redefine the role of the modern model by using her platform to embrace causes that go beyond the typical charity fundraisers.

Over the past few years, she’s helped create awareness around everything from ending hunger to creating positive body image, but her biggest endeavor to date has been helping young women break into the overwhelmingly male-dominated world of tech and coding.

In 2014, Kloss, now 24, enrolled in a two-week coding course at New York’s Flatiron School. “Technology touches so many aspects of our lives, including my own work in the fashion industry, and I was curious to learn how it worked on the back end,” says Kloss.

The experience proved to be a turning point for the model. “After taking my first coding class, I realized how understanding code opens up incredible opportunities to build the future, especially for women,” she explains. So she created the Kode With Klossy scholarship program, which allowed 21 young women to take the same course. Since then, Kloss’ focus on the topic has only increased, culminating in the launch earlier this year of Kode With Klossy, a summer camp for girls ages 13-18 in New York, Los Angeles and St. Louis. Every month, Kode With Klossy also gives away a scholarship to the Flatiron School program. —Emma Bazilian (x)

The World's Highest-Paid Models 2016: Karlie Kloss And Kendall Jenner Storm Top Three With $10 Million Apiece

For fashion’s elite, follower count has finally turned into fiscal fortitude. Though Gisele Bündchen still leads the world’s top-earning models with $30.5 million, Kendall Jenner (No. 3) and newcomer Gigi Hadid (No. 5) have risen up the ranks by turning their outsized Instagram followings into multi-million dollar paydays.

Gisele remains the woman to catch: The 35-year-old has made more money than any other model since 2002. She banks big from lucrative fragrance and beauty deals with Chanel , Carolina Herrera and Pantene, plus advertisements for Arezzo shoes and SkyTV in her native Brazil. More than a clotheshorse, her own line of lingerie and skincare help set her earnings apart.

Bündchen bests fellow Brazilian Adriana Lima (No. 2, $10.5 million) by $20 million. Lima, the longest-running Angel in Victoria’s Secret history, clocked her largest ever annual paycheck this year from her contract with the L Brands-owned lingerie giant, Maybelline and IWC watches, among others.

Together, the world’s 20 highest-paid models earned a cumulative $154 million between June 1, 2015, and June 1, 2016, before fees and taxes; they boast close to 200 million Instagram followers combined.

The biggest gainer year over year is third-ranked Jenner, who saw her earnings increase 150% to $10 million in 2016. She has leveraged her huge social presence of 64.4 million Instagram followers—more than anyone else on the list—into million dollar deals with the likes of Estée Lauder and Calvin Klein, who likely see her social platforms as a new media buy.

“Our business has changed,” says Chris Gay, President of The Society Management, which represents Jenner. ”These models [have] become more and more influential because they are the conduits of media–not only somebody who can be the face of the campaign but a powerful means to distribute it.”

Tied with Jenner at No. 3 is Karlie Kloss, who doubled her earnings since 2015 by clocking more campaigns than any other model on the ranking. She advertised for 18 different brands in our scoring period, including Express, L’Oréal and Swarovski.

How to Do a Wellness Weekend Like a Supermodel: Karlie Kloss Shares Her Wanderlust Experience

“You feel very present here,” says Karlie Kloss, calling from high in the mountains of California’s Squaw Valley, where the Wanderlust Festival is in full swing. It is here, at the cult yoga and meditation retreat, that the 23-year-old supermodel has arrived to celebrate her new role as the face of Adidas by Stella McCartney with a long wellness weekend centered on mindful living.

It’s a welcome change of pace for Kloss who, back home in New York, tends to focus on strength training and cardio, super-charging her fitness routine as often as possible due to her packed schedule. “When I do have an hour free to work out, I want to do something more intense,” she says. “I don’t always have the patience to stretch or do yoga.” Of course, that all changed at Wanderlust, where, armed with a cache of bamboo print leggings and mesh sports tops from the Fall 2016 collection, Kloss found herself suspended from blue fabric for an aerial yoga class beneath pine trees and floating above chilled waters for stand-up paddleboarding on a sun-drenched Lake Tahoe. “Now we’re going into our third yoga class of the day!” Kloss says, laughing. “It doesn’t feel strange, though. Being here, it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.”

Above, Kloss shares an inside look at her Wanderlust weekend—and from a fresh farm-to-table dinner to frolics through fields of wildflowers, it’s enough to make you feel, as Kloss puts it, “like you really lived.” (x)

Model Karlie Kloss Thinks More Women Should Code. Here's What She's Doing About It

There’s a new model for women in tech. A supermodel, in fact. And this time next year, a few more women might be working in tech, thanks to her.

Karlie Kloss is one of the highest-paid models in the world, according to Forbes’ 2015 ranking, but she keeps rolling out new entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors. She’s launched a well-trafficked YouTube channel, collaborated with Milk Bar on Klossies — wheat-free, dairy-free cookies that raise money for charities — and sponsored coding camps for high school girls. “For me, success is having the opportunity to pursue my passions, especially those that can impact other people,” Kloss says.

With her latest passion project, Kloss wants to “simultaneously close the job gap and gender gap in tech,” and empower women to become professional developers.

Today she opens applications for the Kode With Klossy Career Scholarship. Every month, one new winner will get free access to a nine-month code class — valued at $12,000 — that prepares her for a career in tech. Through the Flatiron School’s Learn.co online campus, participants will learn multiple coding languages, create a GitHub portfolio and work together to make web apps. Graduates can apply for apprenticeships at partnering companies, which include Instagram, WeWork, Conde Nast, New York Magazine and Vice.

Kloss sees the social significance of getting women in tech: “I think women are currently an underutilized and poorly-supported group of potential employees in an industry that has a widening gap of unfilled jobs. So I think the opportunity is just tremendous.”

Indeed, the lack of gender diversity in tech is well documented. There are many programs — Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code — trying to get girls excited about code, as well as professional programs to help adult women kickstart careers in tech, such as Girl Develop It and Hackbright Academy. But none have had a supermodel mascot on board to bust stereotypes.

Kloss is a natural champion for code literacy among women, because she’s a student herself. In 2014, she took her first coding class at the Flatiron School. Her curiosity about technology brought her in for a 2-week intro class, and has kept her coming back for 2 years now. Though she’s the first to admit she’s still learning, she makes time in her busy schedule for coding lessons with the Flatiron School’s cofounder, Avi Flombaum.

“What’s unique about working with Karlie is that this is purely her own intellectual curiosity,” Flombaum says. “She’s passionate about learning — not just code, but a lot of things. And she’s become passionate about sharing that learning experience. I have no doubt that curiosity is one of the things that helps her stand out in her industry and drives her to do things that most people don’t, entrepreneurship included.” (x)

Karlie Kloss on Being the New Face of Swarovski: 'They're Really Investing in Me, Not Just as a Model, But Also Me'

Karlie Kloss headed to the Top of the Rock in midtown New York City Tuesday in a sexy, cutout Proenza Schouler LBD to toast to her newest gig as the face of Swarovski. And while the model and street style superstar did a sparkling job on her first assignment to promote the line by wearing a sleeve of shimmering bangles and carrying bedazzled accessories — she took over as the “face” from Miranda Kerr, mind you, so she had a lot to live up to — she made it clear that she was out there for more than a one-dimensional campaign.

Sure, she already stars in the ads for Joe Fresh, Kurt Geiger, Diane Von Furstenberg, Topshop and more. But for Kloss, Swarovski is different.

“This is a really special one, mostly because it’s not about just me in images, but also about me working in partnership with them on creating content,” she told PeopleStyle when we sat down to discuss her new campaign. Kloss was referring to the partnership the brand formed with her YouTube channel Klossy, in which the 23-year-old model and her Klossy YouTube team will produce videos for Swarovski throughout the campaign.

“They’re really investing in me, not just as a model, but also me,” she said. “They’re getting behind all the things I’m passionate about, all my little projects. So it’s different. It’s a very special, and it’s big milestone in my career.”

Swarovski is using the term #BeBrilliant in its images, and it’s a term Kloss relates to a lot. “It’s more of an emotion, and a radiance that comes from within,” she said. “For me, I feel that sentiment most when I’m passionate about something, and when I’m fulfilled and truly happy. I think that shows. I think you can see that in someone, when they are radiating in this way.”

For Kloss, feeling brilliant is something she feels in her world of modeling and beyond. “I have a very glamorous job,” she said. “I have an awesome opportunity to travel the world and work with talented, creative people through my fashion job, but at the same time, I’m a student.” She also runs a coding camp called Kode With Klossy. “I’m doing a lot of other projects that excite me and fulfill me,” she continued. “I think that’s why Swarovski wanted to work with me. That’s very much their consumer and modern women everyday.”

So what does she do to feel brilliant on the daily? “I think just taking time to invest in myself, whether learning something new or taking time to go for a run, taking time to be with my friends and loved ones — things that truly fill my cup on the inside,” she said. “That’s what makes me radiant.” (x)

Announcing the Kode With Klossy Career Scholarship for Women

Did you know that 57% of bachelor’s degrees are earned by women, yet they only account for 18% of the computer science degrees issued? And startups with women leaders are more than two times as likely to be successful?

Thanks to initiatives like the Kode With Klossy summer coding camp, young women across the country are getting inspired to explore programming and future careers in tech.

Today, we’re excited to be part of expanding on this work, by partnering with Kode Woth Klossy to launch a professional scholarship to expand access to computer science education and opportunities for women – especially those who are ready to transform their careers with code.

Through the Career Scholarship, recipients will enroll in a nine-month program through Flatiron School’s Learn.co online campus, a self-paced coding curriculum that serves as a complement or alternative to higher education.

With a robust online community of students, coding experts and instructors, the program prepares students with the tools necessary to become a professional developer – covering topics such as Ruby, SQL, Rails, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, among others. Throughout the course, students will build their own full-scale web apps and collaborate with each other in real time, as they learn together and build projects, using real-world tools like GitHub.

Then, upon completing the program, graduates will have access to Flatiron School’s extensive career resources and network, plus the opportunity to secure paid apprenticeships at some innovative companies like Conde Nast, WeWork, Vice and more!

For women who dream of starting or transitioning to careers in software engineering, the Kode With Klossy Career Scholarship makes taking the first step an exciting and realistic possibility.

If you’re interested in learning more, visit the Kode With Klossy Career Scholarship page.

WHO THIS PROGRAM IS FOR:

The Kode with Klossy Career Scholarship is designed for women at any level of experience who are passionate about learning to code. Whether your goal is to switch careers or be an entrepreneur; whether you’ve been excited about programming for years or are just starting out, we’re looking for people who are excited to combine technical training with creativity to make the world a better place with code.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE:

Karlie Kloss Named New Spokesmodel for Swarovski

Karlie Kloss’ face will soon rise up on another billboard. The model has been named Swarovski’s new face. Klosssucceeds the firm’s former spokesmodel and her fellow Victoria Secret Angel alum,Miranda Kerr.

Swarovski’s chief executive officer for consumer goods Robert Buchbauer said the company’s decision to sign Kloss is strategic and is tied to the brand’s recent objectives to ramp up its North American presence and increase its fashion quotient.

“We wanted to bring our brand to the next level but also the next generation — we thought that Karlie would be a perfect match. She represents a certain openness and a certain mind-set — a new philosophy if you will. She is very fashionable and very beautiful, which is key when you talk about the next generation of consumer — specifically, powerful women who should become our long-term customer. On top of that, we’ve decided to put more emphasis on the North American market and who would be better than Karlie?” Buchbauer said.

Her Swarovski contract includes exclusivity clauses for both the jewelry and watch markets. The partnership will see Kloss fronting the label for the next two years.

Kloss, having just returned to New York from the Cannes Film Festival, said of Swarovski: “It’s such a global presence, you see [their ads] in the subway, also all throughout Europe — I’ve been doing a world tour lately and at every airport and every country I’ve been I’ve seen it somewhere. In Cannes as well — it’s been very exciting to play ‘I Spy’ and spot the ads.

“They are a brand that does bridge the gap [between fashion and commerce], the scope of what they do its pretty extreme. In the time I’ve spent working with them I’ve met different family members from different aspects of the business — one part of the business is loose stones, another is stone-cutting, another part is the actual design and the product, another part is working with high-fashion brands,” the admittedly “curious” Kloss told WWD of what she’s recently gleaned from the Austrian firm — the headquarters for which she plans to soon visit.

She will appear in outdoor, television, print and digital campaigns for Swarovski — the initial round for which see her wearing jewelry, watches and sunglasses laden with the brand’s crystals. Print ads will begin appearing in the September issues of national magazines.

Buchbauer said that, with Kloss’ help, Swarovski “would like to see double-digit growth in the North American market in the next two years.”

“Big cities offer much more potential for market penetration,” he said. “In the next few years we want to concentrate on our fashion sense in the five or six biggest cities in the U.S.

“We are trying to put a lot of emphasis on the designs and are also working on our language internally and externally — we are going to work with Jean Paul Gaultier and focus our efforts [on style].” In February, it was revealed that Gaultier had designed a stone called “Kaputt” for the brand.

As for Kloss, the 23-year-old said that she has been “procrastinating on my summer plans. I am going to take some time in August to be with family and friends, but as of right now I’ve been focusing on my Code with Klossy summer camp.”

The scholarship day camp program is new this year and will instruct girls aged 13 to 18 in New York, St. Louis, and Los Angeles how to code. They will learn a curriculum formulated by The Flatiron School — a developers’ program based in New York.

When camp is over, the U.S. will be a mere three months shy of a presidential election — the likely Republican candidate for which is tied to Kloss by way of her boyfriend, Joshua Kushner. His brother, Jared, is married to Ivanka Trump — making Donald Trump his father-in-law.

When asked if this association in any way rattling, Kloss preferred to play it safe. “I stay out of politics,” she said. (x)

Karlie Kloss releases first single, “Krazy NYC Nights” April 22nd

After signing with Scooter Braun late last year, Karlie Kloss is releasing her first single titled “Krazy NYC Nights” April 22nd. This single will be the first from her debut album which is set to drop later this year. 

Karlie Kloss, an American business woman, coder and fashion supermodel is now diving into the music business. The album name and track list details have not been announced but sources say this will be the breakthrough album of the year. One source tells us “This single is going to blow up on the charts. We can’t say much but it’s a mix of pop with a hip hop flare.” While Karlie’s been featured in multiple music videos, this single will be the first of her own. 

“Krazy NYC Nights” will be available to purchase on iTunes beginning midnight EST April 22nd.

Behind The Scenes At Karlie Kloss's New Coding Camp For Girls

Kode With Klossy coding camp aims to give young women a jump-start toward careers that encompass computer science and STEM skills.

Two years ago, model Karlie Kloss enrolled in Flatiron School's two-week pre-college coding course and caught the programming bug. She started taking regular private coding classes with Flatiron dean and cofounder Avi Flombaum (who she already knew socially) and enjoyed the experience so much that she decided to underwrite 21 Kode with Karlie scholarships so other young women could take the same two-week pre-college coding course at Flatiron that had kicked off her own programming education.

This summer, Kloss is taking it up a notch by launching her own Kode with Klossy coding camps for young women aged 13-18 in Los Angeles, New York, and her hometown of St. Louis, using Flatiron's Learn.co curriculum and learning platform. Unlike last summer's Kode with Karlie program, this year's 80 scholarship recipients will participate in their own program, separate from other Flatiron School students. By the end of the camp, which is being taught by independent instructors, students will have learned the fundamentals of Ruby on Rails and built their own web app. Kloss is not underwriting this latest round of scholarships herself but instead, in partnership with Flatiron School and CSNYC, has pulled together a number of partner brands as fiscal sponsors for the program.

"I have big goals of continuing to build the community of these young women, to not only stay in touch and support and encourage and challenge each other, but also learn from one another," Kloss says, adding that she's going to try to take off as much time as possible from modeling to attend the camps in person "because selfishly, I really am so inspired and so excited by my experiences with the girls [last summer], watching them have these aha moments and this empowerment that comes from learning something new and hard."

The camp isn't confined to classroom walls. Since space in the program is limited, the Kode with Klossy team hopes to virtually teach as many unaccepted applicants as possible this summer via live-streaming video and Flatiron's online Learn.co platform (virtual students won't have to pay for the program).

So why is Flatiron the right partner for a coding camp aimed at girls? "I think the first thing we do really well [at Flatiron] and try to focus on is creating a supportive and engaging environment that isn't necessarily about great scores or how amazing you are as a programmer, but really a place to be curious, to feel inspired, to be engaged," says Flombaum.

Designing that kind of encouraging environment incorporates a number of different elements and approaches, he says, "from having music playing when you come in the class to showing and telling stories about other programmers and bringing in guest speakers, having [students] always work in groups and constantly changing those groups up so they're meeting each other and forging connections between them and not developing cliques, having really amazing and passionate teachers that want to see the students succeed emotionally and psychologically, having a bright, colorful classroom with desks arranged in circles so they can all sit next to each other and talk to each other."

Flombaum also points out that Flatiron's class enrollment has been equally split between male and female students for over three years. "We're very big believers that a diversity of opinion through background creates the most engaging place for people to learn," he says. "The more perspectives there are, the more backgrounds people come from, the more life experiences that are different creates a really amazing environment for people to grow together in ways they would never be able to grow if they were surrounded by people just like them."

For Kloss, who interviewed this summer's Kode with Klossy camp instructors herself, the teaching environment is crucial. "Like anything you're learning, when you have a teacher that is excited and passionate about it, that is contagious and it makes it so much more fun for the students to learn, to continue to push forward and not to get stuck," Kloss says.

"Coding is such a collaborative thing anyway, especially the way that learning in these code camps is done. When you can't figure out how to scrape from a certain API or something is wrong with your code and you keep hitting a wall, you either ask the person next to you or you Google the answer. It's so funny, because that is so counter to most other things that you're learning," she laughs. "You're usually not allowed to Google the answer, but in coding it's almost encouraged."

Beyond the environment itself, Flombaum and Kloss think Flatiron's curriculum approach helps get people engaged with the lessons—even if students' primary aim isn't to become professional backend software engineers. For example, "instead of trying to teach the first year of computer science in college to high school kids, we try to show the creative and more artistic aspects of programming," Flombaum says, "whether it's teaching them how to fly drones or how to build apps for projects they're interested in, like poverty and disease."

Some of the Kode with Klossy camp curriculum is being generated by Kloss's own experiences as a coding student. "As Karlie has been learning to code and working with me, we always come up with new experiments, like the things we're doing with music and computer-generated art [in the camp] are really coming from the lessons Karlie and I have been doing over the past year," Flombaum says. "At some level, whatever Karlie enjoys, whatever lights her up, we tend to immediately lock on to that idea and develop a formal curriculum around it—that's one of the ways she's been contributing, simply learning and pushing me and pushing all of our faculty to create different kinds of experiments in code. We do research together, and then we say, 'Well, this would be a great lab, and we should formalize this and deliver this to students.'"

Flombaum believes that teaching students how to express themselves through code is key to keeping students—especially young people—engaged. "Showing them that they can generate music with code allows them to clone or copy their favorite artist, to put a little of their own personality and their own opinions to it," he says. "When they do actually build apps, we allow them to pick a project and pick a place where they want to improve the world and contribute ways in which they are expressing themselves, not us. We’re giving them the tool set or the vocabulary with which to model a phenomenon or project or concept. Code really becomes the medium, and the end result becomes what they are more interested in."

This year's expansion into multiple dedicated Kode with Klossy camps was very much inspired by last year's Kode with Karlie experience at Flatiron. "We had an incredible experience last summer. The girls that I got to take classes with and got to FaceTime with and got to know in person were just brilliant," Kloss says. "One girl, I sat in on a class with her for the two-week period last summer and she was amazing, she is probably going to run for president and I will very much be her campaign manager [laughs]. She was really bright but never had much of a focus on computer science, she was very socially and philanthropically minded, always has had this passion for social good and not really sure what she wants to do with her profession. It was amazing to me to watch her go from not being able to write any lines of code to being able to build her own web app," Kloss says. "She's applying to college and wants to focus on computer science now because she recognizes that the kind of social impact and social good she wants to make in the world, she can use technology to actually build tools, to build whatever she wants and very much use that for social good."

"One of the fun parts of working with these different young women is that they have amazing ideas and they're just totally uninhibited with what they think of or dream of or hope to build," Kloss says, pointing to another example from last year's program. "Do you remember the Clueless closet in that movie, where Cher's flipping through her shirts and her dresses and her pants? They built that! One group essentially built both the front end and the back end of it," she says. "Another student built a video game which was really impressive, depending on what positions you turned, it had different things that happened. This was just after the two weeks—these projects [students] could continue to be work on and probably work into successful companies, and it was just the first stab at it."

Despite all the successes, Kloss is the first to point out that learning how to code isn't easy. "The first few days are really challenging and then it all kind of starts to click, and then you all of a sudden are able to build things and write lines of code and it's all making sense," Kloss says. "It's really an exciting and empowering feeling, and it's really cool to watch these young women do it. It kind of totally changes their thought of what they think they're capable of within this space."

She likens the process of learning how to code to what she's observed in the fashion world. "Being a model in fashion, I get to work with designers and see them create couture gowns stitch by stitch and work with the team, an idea becomes a sketch, and then it becomes almost a first draft, and then they modify it. The creation process of creating a beautiful gown, it almost feels like it's the same kind of process when you're building an app: You initially have an idea, and then you can actually, line by line, build something and have a result that can be deployed to millions of people around the world," she points out.

Kloss says she started to learn how to code herself back in 2014 "because I wanted to understand how things worked, how they were built," she says. She was especially inspired by her friend Kevin Systrom, the founder of Instagram. Kloss, an avid Instagram user, says "I kind of had this moment—like, wait a minute, he actually built this, meaning he didn't just have the idea and like hire somebody else to do the heavy lifting, but he actually wrote the lines of code—that really changed the perspective for me, I was like, 'Oh wow, this is something that you can learn.'"

There's another reason why Kloss took coding classes: She likes a good challenge. "I think maybe the fact that coding was something, whenever I asked anyone about it, they were like, 'Oh no, I can't learn that, it's too hard' made me want to learn it more," she says. "If you can learn how to code, or if nothing else understand how things are built and understand the back end of technology even at a high level, it can be applied to any industry that you're interested in," she explains.

"No matter what industry you want to go into, what job you dream of having, with this skill set you really can create and bring more to the table in any industry. You don't have to just learn this skill set to get a job at a tech startup. You can apply this thinking, apply this skill set to anything you want to do in life," she says.

Her forays into the world of coding aren't Kloss's only major activity outside her modeling career. She's also an entrepreneur who sells her signature Karlie's Kookies at Momofuku Milk Bar, and hosts her own YouTube channel. The 23-year-old is also enrolled in her freshman year at NYU.

"Karlie is just an amazing voice to show young women they can be so many more things: They don’t have to make myopic or binary choices about being into fashion or being into science, or being a programmer or being an artist," Flombaum says. "Karlie Kloss could be doing a million other things with her time, but this is what she is choosing, this is a message she's communicating to the world: that women can do whatever they want, that they're capable, and all they need is a little inspiration to reach out and look for something more."

To apply for a Kode with Klossy camp scholarship, prospective candidates must submit both video and text applications to the selection committee, explaining why they should participate in the program. Applications are due on April 30th. (x)

Karlie Kloss Is Headed to a College Near You

The supermodel tells all about her Nordstrom Shoe Snapchat Challenge.

Karlie Kloss does it all — she’s a top model, philanthropist, YouTube queen, and coder. But just when we thought she couldn’t be any more amazing, the multi-hyphenate is announcing a new project with Nordstrom, a challenge that will reward one lucky school with a killer party and major shoe swag — a.k.a. every college kid’s dream come true. To help graduating seniors transition to the real world in style, the store is giving select universities the opportunity to throw a supermodel-worthy shindig filled with goodies — hosted by none other than Miss Kloss herself.

“They're thinking about the graduates that are going to be taking their next steps,” explains Karlie. “And I think the way you dress through that transition of interviewing and networking can empower you to take on the next phase of your life.” Of course, the shoe swag Nordstrom is bestowing on the students is bound to help. “I mean, what girl doesn’t love shoes?” she adds, laughing.

As one of the most in-demand models in the biz, and a style icon in her own right, Karlie knows a thing or two about accessorizing and dressing the part. For graduates, she says you can’t go wrong with sleek black high heels. “They could be satin, they can be patent leather, they can be whatever you want, but classic black pumps you can walk in are a must have,” she says. “If you’re going to an interview or whatever, you want to feel confident in whatever you’re wearing. You want to look chic, but you also want to be able to really do your job. When I first started working, I had a lucky dress, like a little black dress that I would wear to castings and for whatever reason, I don’t know if it was the dress or if it was all in my head, but I always got the jobs I wanted when I was wearing that dress.”

While she certainly doesn’t need any more lucky dresses these days, Karlie’s always on the lookout for cool comfy shoes. As for brands, she loves Adidas for sneakers, Valentino and Topshop for flats, and Manolo Blahnik, who she knows personally (casual). “I really love him, not only as a brand but as a person,” she explains. “We first met on a British Vogue photo shoot and I think he was playing the piano and we just chatted for the entire shoot. I hardly think we got a good photo out of it because we just kind of completely fell in love with each other and turned it into our own little date! I just completely fell in love with him on that shoot and after that we just became friends.”

The Nordstrom party will give her the opportunity to make even more BFFs when she throws a bash for the selected campus. “I’m excited just to meet my fellow students and be able to connect with students who are my age and who have had experiences they’ll be able to share with me,” she says. “I’m kind of on the flip side, I have a lot of work experience, but I’m still very much new to being a student and the school aspect of it. So I’m excited to connect and share both sides of it.”

The challenge might be taking place on Snapchat, but that doesn’t mean Karlie’s a pro at the app. “I’m really new to it, so I’ll be asking lots of students when I meet them for Snapchat pointers!” she jokes. “So far, I’m really into the filters and the face recognition ones like the puppy dog face and the bunny one.”

For your chance to meet Karlie, visit Nordstrom’s website for the full rules. In the meantime, check out the brand's Snapchat (Nordstrom) on Monday, March 28th at 10:00AM PST, where they'll post a story for 24 hours featuring Florida State University, University of Arizona, University of California Los Angeles, University of Oregon, and University of South Carolina. Screenshot your pick (whether you attend that school or not), and the most snapped school gets the prize. Party on! (x)

Karlie Kloss Wins ELLE UK’s ‘Inspiring Woman Of The Year’

Congratulations to supermodel and tech entrepreneur, Karlie Kloss, who is ELLE UK's 2016 Inspiring Woman of The Year!

Karlie will formally receive her award at the ELLE Style Awards 2016, the official closing party for London Fashion Week, taking place next Tuesday, February 23.

The ‘Inspiring Woman of the Year’ category is a new addition to the annual ELLE Style Awards that honours and recognises Kloss’s motivating contribution to the industry as well as her entrepreneurial and philanthropic work.

Karlie Kloss has launched various charitable initiatives including her scholarship programme ‘Kode with Karlie’ that inspires a new generation of women to learn to code.

The influential supermodel has graced international catwalks and has long been a favourite of ELLE UK, appearing on the cover and guest editing its Tech Trailblazers March Issue.

The ELLE Style Awards, in association with H&M, is a fabulous way to bring London Fashion Week to a close, with film stars, pop royalty and fashion industry luminaries coming together to celebrate style in all its many, brilliant and exhilarating forms. (ELLEUK)

Karlie Kloss confirmed in Zoolander 2! 🎥