Blonde Leather: MODEL SPOTLIGHT

Discovered at just 13 years old at a charity fashion show in St. Louis, Missouri, 18 year old Karlie Kloss has been wowing the fashion world ever since.

Heading up campaigns at Pringle, Hermes, Chloe, Yves Saint Laurent and a firm favourite at Dior, Karlie shows no signs of slowing down. Marc Jacobs hand picked Kloss to be the face of his fragrance, Lola, in 2010. But none of this phases the young model, who when asked about the campaign by W Magazine responded "I didn't believe it, to be honest. I was shocked. I was like, "No, you're kidding me. Me? Marc Jacobs knows my name?!" I was convinced that they accidentally drew my name out of hat or something."

Karlie for Lola by Marc Jacobs

A ballet dancer, she began studying intensively at Caston's Ballet Academy in 2002 until she was signed with Elite Model Management in 2007, aged just 15. Within a matter of months, she landed a Teen Vogue editorial, and was subsequently featured in four consecutive issues of Teen Vogue. Her runway debut was with Calvin Klein at New York Fashion Week for S/S 2008, and she has since appeared on the catwalks of Rodarte, Dior, Valentino, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, & Chanel to name but a few.

Karlie's reputation as fashion's 'good girl' has only been tarnished once, with her controversial move from to Elite to Next, causing Elite to sue the new agency. This has had absolutely no effect on Kloss's career, as she continues to grace the pages of American, British & Italian Vogues & walks numerous runways each season.

Alexander McQueen SS 2011

Marc Jacobs SS 2011

Backstage at Lanvin SS 2011

Held in high regard by designers, editors and photographers alike, it seems the fashion world doesn't have enough good things to say about her! "She's a chameleon," says Dior designer John Galliano. "She becomes this other creature in front of the lens. She thinks about her role, her pose, her part. She's able to step in front of Steven Meisel and all of us and be totally in control and self-assured, delivering pose after perfect pose."

Watch her deliver her signature "Death Walk" on the runway, and an interview which made me fall in love with her!

"She's my lucky closer," says Jason Wu, who has assigned her the coveted finale spot at his show for the past four seasons straight. "She has such presence. You see so many girls who are so young; it's not very often that you find one with Karlie's poise. I don't think we've seen that since the supermodel days."

Judging but what we see here, Kloss is clearly not going anywhere but up.