Karlie Kloss believes it is "important and necessary" for women to support one another.
The 25-year-old model has admitted she feels "lucky" to have been supported by her sisters, her mother, and her friends throughout her career, and believes having close female friends who inspire her is an "amazing gift" that has "really shaped" the person she is today.
Asked how important she finds the idea of women backing one another, she said: "It’s such an important and necessary thing. I feel really lucky that I’ve had the guidance of my sisters, my mom, the strong women in my family my whole life. But also throughout my career, I’ve had the support of friends, whether they’re my peers or mentors, women older than me who have been incredible friends and advocates. They’ve really shaped who I’ve become. It’s important to share that kind of friendship and mentorship. It’s like this amazing gift that keeps on giving, because when you are that friend or mentor to somebody else, that is a gift that they then want to share."
The blonde beauty previously studied a coding course because she wanted to understand "how things worked", and has since launched organisation Kode With Klossy, which arms young women with the tools they need to enter the tech world.
Asked why she decided to learn how to code, she said: "I wanted to understand the secret language of code and how things worked. Whether it’s social media, apps, software, or hardware, to understand how technology built it is fascinating. I also wanted to know if this was something that I could learn. I started Kode With Klossy because as my mind opened to understanding how mighty coding is, I wanted to share that with you."
Through Kode With Klossy, Karlie hopes to build a strong community of female coders, who help to support one another.
Speaking to Teen Vogue magazine, she said: "The community component of Kode With Klossy is one of the most powerful parts of the whole experience. That aspect was something that I never realised was going to be a part of what we were building: this idea of wanting to create opportunities for other girls to learn how to code and understand the capability of tech and how it can open doors for anyone. It becomes this network, this family, this community of like-minded, passionate, determined young women, and that is something I am so inspired by."