Heidi Klum Responds to Backlash Over Controversial Modeling Campaign With 21-year-old Daughter Leni

Heidi Klum isn't fazed by critics of her lingerie shoots with daughter Leni — and says her kids have grown up learning from her "European" comfort with her own body.

Since 2023, supermodel Heidi Klum and her daughter, Leni, have participated in several joint mother-daughter campaigns for Intimissimi, an Italian lingerie brand, sometimes sparking online controversy.

Now, in a new interview with People magazine, Heidi responded to the backlash and opened up about her parenting style.

"A lot of people are like, 'Oh, I don’t know about mom and daughter doing this together,'" said Heidi of the controversial campaigns. "But for us? I'm proud of my daughter. She's fine with me like that."

She added that she's always been very open about her 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 and Leni's first campaign for Intimissimi dates back to May 2023. "Our new @intimissimiofficial campaign! Find my mom and I on billboards all over Germany and tag us if you see it!!" Leni wrote.

The post included two photos. In one, mother and daughter clasp hands, with Leni wearing white lingerie and an open white shirt, and Heidi wearing pale purple lingerie. A second photo featured a 19-year-old Leni by herself in white lingerie.

Reactions were mixed. While many praised the mother-daughter duo’s looks, some criticized Leni's young age at the time. "I know her daughter is 19, but it's still giving Brooke Shields in 'Pretty Baby' vibes. Creepy," wrote one user.

Others didn't understand the fuss. "I don't understand the negativity. If they would model the lingerie apart from each other, everyone would think it's normal. Lingerie is just that, lingerie. You are the ones making it weird," said a fan.

A subsequent campaign from October 2024 once again paired mother and daughter for Intimissimi. A post from Heidi showed her and Leni posing together in black lingerie, followed by two pictures of Heidi alone and a video of them together.

The video featured them being playful on a couch and then photographing each other. As the camera flashes, they alternate between casual long-sleeve sweaters and sensual Intimissimi lingerie.

Heidi turned off the comments on that 2024 post — perhaps getting ahead of the controversy the second time around.

However, in an April 2025 post promoting their most recent joint campaign for the same brand, Leni left the comments open — and users were quick to share their thoughts. "This is a weird brand deal to do with your mom.." one user commented.

Leni's post opens with a photo of her in black lingerie, followed by a photo with her mother in cream-colored lingerie.

It also includes a video of mother and daughter, in lingerie and robes, walking toward the camera and smiling — first at the camera, then at each other.

It seems that, for Heidi, online backlash about how she raises her children amounts to little more than noise. In the same interview with People, she said that what she truly loves is "having a house where they feel safe."

She also explained that her parenting style doesn't free her from the many worries all mothers face. "When they're young, you're worried they're going to jump in the pool or stick their finger in a socket," she told People.

"Then they're driving. Then it's sex, drugs and rock and roll. You hope the seed you planted in them grows. That they're good people. That they're healthy. But you always worry. And I know I'll still be worrying when I'm 80," she added.

Speaking of Leni, Heidi explained, "Sometimes she'll say, 'Maybe I should have listened to my mom four years ago.' When you're young, being cool is everything. So maybe mom's advice doesn't always feel cool at the time."

Heidi's trajectory in modeling is the stuff of legend — starting as a catalog model and working her way up to the status of supermodel and Victoria's Secret Angel.

Leni, who started modeling at 16, appears to be following in her footsteps. Like mother, like daughter!