Karlie Kloss Models Her New Line of Denim for Tall Women in ELLE

When Karlie Kloss stands up from the makeup chair to greet me, it's like watching a giant sunflower unfurl in a children's movie: She just keeps going up, up, up, over my head, her elfin face tilting down to say hello. If remarking upon a model's height-6'1" in bare feet; in today's heels, easily 6'6"-seems like declaring a sky blue or a stoplight red, well, bear in mind that I am 5'10". It's a rare thing to find myself looking up into the eyes of another woman. The eyes are green, by the way, and radiate an attentiveness rare in 21-year-old phenoms whose job is drawing all eyes to themselves. "Are you sure we've never met before?" she asks, as if that couldn't be possible. It's that famous Karlie Kloss charm-and it works.

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The week she started high school, Kloss walked the Calvin Klein runway-more like a panther than a freshman-and kicked off an unlikely commute: flying to New York for the day for shoots, then back to St. Louis for homework. She graduated with a 4.0 and even made it to the Webster Groves High senior prom (in Dior) on the arm of her 5'6" childhood best friend, Gabe Smith (in Men's Wearhouse). From there it's been nothing but net: cohosting MTV's House of Style revamp; Victoria's Secret angel-dom. Marc Jacobs named a bag for her; The New York Times dubbed "the Karlie" the haircut du jour. And then there's that most endearing venture, Karlie's Kookies, vegan sweets-because, ya know, she also bakes-created with Momofuku Milk Bar to benefit kids''charities through FEED.

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Her latest endeavor was born over an after-show dinner in Paris, when Kloss lamented to the cofounders of Frame Denim (makers of "Le Skinny de Jeanne," a cut beloved by le skinny de Hollywood) her inability to find jeans that fit. Enter the Forever Karlie: two shades, light and dark; two styles, skinny and flared, both with a staggering 40" inseam. Dangling from a hanger at ELLE's shoot, the Forever Karlies came up to most women's chests and sometimes their shoulders. Kloss herself still can't quite believe the luxury of such length. "Even in heels, I have to wear, like, platforms," she gasps. "I've never had that before." Apparently they're not just for supes: Her first Instagram about the collaboration got 18,000 likes overnight and a torrent of comments from her leggiest admirers thanking her for answering their denim prayers. Kloss insists this isn't the dawn of Karlie, Inc. Though there are plenty of people who'd love to slap her name on their products, she says, "If that ever happens, please say, 'Karlie, what are you doing?'"

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