Move over Elle Macpherson, Karlie Kloss is the new Body in town

Vogue Italia editor, Franca Sozzani declares 19 year-old Karlie Kloss is 'The (new) Body.'

BY Melissa Whitworth | 02 December 2011

Photo: STEVEN MEISEL/ VOGUE ITALIA Photo: courtesy of Italian Vogue

Karlie Kloss is having a year to remember. After turning 19, she was tapped by Victoria's Secret to be their newest "Angel", one of the most lucrative contracts in the modelling industry. The job turns a model into a household name: when the fashion show aired in the US on Tuesday night 10.3 million people switched on to watch. And as every past and present Victoria's Secret model will tell you, being deemed an "Angel" opens many other doors.

Karlie Kloss: The Body in pictures

Now Vogue Italia has celebrated Kloss's extraordinary limbs in a coveted "one-girl" story shot by the model maker, Steven Klein. The editorial's headline reads "Body by Kloss".

In pictures: Elle Macpherson through the years

By the age of 18, as Kloss was finishing up highschool in St. Louis, Missouri, she became a face for Prada and Dior. She is currently ranked number four in the world on models.com's Top 50 Models list (Lara Stone is number one). At her first New York Fashion Week in 2008, she walked in 31 shows.

Steven Meisel has said she is "a model right down to her fingertips". Patrick Demarchelier loves her emotion in front of the camera, which you can see for yourself in a Telegraph Magazine behind-the-scenes video shoot with Kloss.

Watch: HIghschool supermodel Karlie Kloss

But to wrest the moniker of "The Body" from Elle Macpherson is a feat not even Gisele has managed during a career - and she has outperformed the Dow Jones .

What does it take to be a Victoria's Secret Angel?



Karlie Kloss modelling in the Victoria's Secret show.