Karlie Kloss

How Karlie Kloss went from Victoria’s Secret Angel to entrepreneur, investor, and media mogul.

Discovered at 14, Karlie Kloss quickly became one of the most in-demand models in the world.

She opened for Carolina Herrera, closed for Marc Jacobs, and by 2013, had earned the coveted title of Victoria’s Secret Angel.

Between 2009 and 2019, she appeared on 40+ international Vogue covers.

But in 2015, she left Victoria’s Secret, enrolled at NYU, and started learning to code.

That same year, she launched Kode With Klossy, a nonprofit that offers free coding camps for girls and gender-expansive teens.

Ruby, JavaScript, Swift, AI, machine learning, and full-stack web development.

Every camp ends in a demo day, where scholars present working apps and websites.

It has trained over 10,000 students from 99 countries, with 82% identifying as people of color.

In 2024 alone, Kode With Klossy awarded 5,000 full scholarships.

In 2020, Karlie led a group of investors (including Kaia Gerber) to acquire W Magazine.

Three years later, she founded Bedford Media, a company focused on acquiring legacy media brands and bringing them into the digital age.

In 2023, Bedford acquired i-D Magazine from Vice Media after its bankruptcy. Kloss became CEO.

In 2024, Bedford also brought LIFE Magazine back to print and digital in partnership with Dotdash Meredith.

At the same time, Karlie continued expanding her investment portfolio, backing companies like Seed, Away, and ClassPass.

She later launched her YouTube channel, Klossy, with help from filmmaker Casey Neistat, and hosted and executive produced “Project Runway” from 2018–2021.

Outside of tech and media, she’s been a consistent voice in social activism.

In 2022, she launched the Gateway Coalition, a funding initiative supporting abortion providers across the Midwest.

It covers everything from patient transportation to clinic operating costs.

In 2024, she helped gather signatures for a Missouri ballot initiative to protect reproductive rights.

And she’s done all this while raising two sons with a third child on the way.