1. Daily Front Row (Leni’s interview about nervousness with lingerie)
2. Page Six/People interviews about Leni’s comfort level with her body
3. Multiple outlets covering the lingerie campaigns and backlash
4. Heidi’s statements about her openness with her body
5. Background on Leni’s modeling career starting at 16
6. Abby Lee Miller dance training helping her prepare
Leni Klum attributes her comfort modeling lingerie to growing up with a mother who was confident with her body.
When asked if she gets nervous shooting lingerie for brands like Intimissimi, Leni said she’s very comfortable in her body because growing up with a mom who was comfortable made it easy for her, and her mother was on set during her first lingerie shoot when she had just turned 18.
Leni explained, “I was always a little nervous at first, so it was great to have her on set, like for the Vogue Germany cover.”
Speaking about her German Vogue debut, Leni recalled, “I was so scared. I was freaking out on the morning of [shooting] it. But there was nothing to freak out about. I had the best day. I was grateful my mom was there.”
She was more nervous about the interview portion because she had never spoken to a journalist before.
That confidence with lingerie work has persisted.
Leni, 20, has appeared in multiple campaigns for Intimissimi, an Italian clothing company.
In one recent ad, the mother and daughter posed on a couch wearing bra-and-underwear sets and photographed each other, laughing and spinning around, with both posting the shoot on Instagram.
The campaigns have drawn sharp criticism online.
In Leni’s comment section, people said the ad was “beautiful” but also inappropriate for a mother and daughter, with critics calling it “Cringe and weird.”
Leni has addressed the backlash directly.
In a cover story released March 11, Leni told Glamour Germany, “I always try to remember that no matter what you do, there will always be someone who doesn’t like it. You simply have no control over it, and you can’t focus too much on the negative.”
She added with a laugh, “Oh, and most of the comments are in German, and I don’t really understand many of them. That helps too, of course.”
Meanwhile, Heidi has been candid about her own comfort with her body and how that shaped her daughter.
Heidi said in an interview, “A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, I don’t know about mom and daughter doing this together.’ But for us? I’m proud of my daughter. She’s fine with me like that.”
Heidi continued, “I’ve always been very open with my body. When I’m suntanning in the backyard, I might not have a top on. I’m European … my kids don’t know me any other way and are probably more easygoing with their bodies because of it.”
Heidi credited another major influence: Abby Lee Miller’s dance company.
Heidi revealed that it was Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller who helped her daughter get ready for a life on the catwalk, as Leni was a member of the Abby Lee Miller Dance Company.
When asked before a runway show, Heidi said Leni told her, “No, Mom, I got this. I’m just going to wing it,” and Heidi revealed that being part of the dance company prepared her for the casting because “There, you have to learn really hard routines, and you have to dance in front of all the judges.”
That confidence started early.
Born in 2004, she began her modeling career at 16, debuting on the cover of Vogue Germany alongside her mother.
In March 2021, Heidi told E! News that Leni had been “begging me for years” to start a modeling career, and when she was 16, Heidi said, “fine.”
In the viral moment that set the stage for recent lingerie campaigns,
the mother-daughter duo collaborated with Intimissimi starting in 2022, with images highlighting coordinated lingerie sets and the pair’s modeling chemistry.
In their debut campaign, the lingerie-clad models danced and lip-synced to opera music.
Reactions online quickly turned divided, with some viewers praising the campaign but others calling it “creepy” and “inappropriate,” reigniting a debate that has followed the two for years whenever they pose together in lingerie.
Despite the controversy, the pair has not slowed down.
In October 2024, Klum, now 52, and daughter Leni, now 21, joined forces for a campaign with lingerie and sleepwear brand Intimissimi.
Leni appeared on the cover of Glamour Germany’s March 2025 issue, and in the accompanying interview, she revealed how she takes reactions in stride, saying “I always try to remember that no matter what you do, there will always be someone who doesn’t like it.”
Heidi disabled comments on recent campaigns, but Leni’s were filled with universal adoration and absent of trollish comments that had previously accompanied their collaborative campaigns for Intimissimi.
The mother-daughter duo first worked with the brand in 2024.