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"As if her high cheekbones and perfect body weren\u2019t reason enough to think Karlie Kloss was a specter put on earth to torment the average woman, the 21-year-old Victoria\u2019s Secret model is also a philanthropist, some-time Harvard Business School student, and entrepreneur. (Oh, and she\u2019s dating venture capitalist and real estate scion Joshua Kushner.) But to resent her too much would be to miss out on some of her hip and ambitious collaborations, the proceeds of which will go to getting healthy food to needy children.\nLast week, Kloss launched a new design project with trendy eyewear designer Warby Parker as part of a philanthropic venture that will donate profits to Edible Schoolyard NYC. That\u2019s in addition to another charitable collaboration with the famous Momofuku Milkbar to sell a healthy cookie. Kloss is also involved with the Clinton Global Initiative and attended the United Nations\u2019 Global Accelerator conference. Fortune recently spoke with fashion\u2019s emerging entrepreneur to get her take on corporate strategy and philanthropy. Below is an edited transcript of the conversation.\nFortune: How did the deal with Warby Parker happen?\nKloss: It happened organically. Neil [Blumenthal], Dave [Gilboa], and I met at a basketball game a few years ago, and just sort of hit it off. We decided to collaborate on something together. For me, it was exciting to be a part of the design process from the very inception of it. Normally, I\u2019m involved at the very last stage of the advertising component for fashion brands or for any kind of company, but it was exciting for me to be involved on a very hands-on level\u2014in the creation and design process. Being in the office, seeing the office culture, seeing the business from the inside out. That\u2019s something I don\u2019t normally have exposure to.\nWhat was it like working with those guys?\nI wish I had a desk job there. They have this really great energy in the office. Everybody is so creative and excited about what they\u2019re doing. The way that the business model is structured, and the way that they operate is that as the company grows, the more successful the company becomes, the more glasses you\u2019re able to sell, the more they\u2019re able to donate. It\u2019s sort of an incredible win-win for everyone. It gives purpose in a different kind of way than just profits. Impact is priceless.\nYou took a weeklong executive education course at Harvard Business School titled, \u201CThe Business of Media, Entertainment, and Sports.\u201D What was the most valuable part of that program?\nThere were a lot of really valuable parts of that experience. I got to interact with the other students, who happened to be executives with 30 years under their belts in their field. All of us were in the business, entertainment, or media industries. It was interesting for me because I got to hear the perspectives from the corporate side of it, the people who work within companies. And they got to hear my perspective from my experiences working on the talent side.\nOne of the classes was taught by Sir Alex Ferguson, he was the coach of Manchester United for 25 or 30 years. He\u2019s amazing. He\u2019s this very famous coach who one of the [business] cases was written about, and he actually came in to teach and talk about the case. It was just this amazing opportunity to be a student again and to experience HBS.\nHow did your perspective change over the course of the class?\nI think I just had a greater appreciation for all of the people that work on the corporate side. Whenever I get involved with a company\u2014for instance doing a simple advertising job with them\u2014I show up at the end of that process, so I miss all of the strategy and planning, the thought and energy that goes into it. It\u2019s less to do with fashion, but it just gave me a greater appreciation for the manpower and corporate side of industry.\nWhich entrepreneurs do you find to be the most inspirational?\nI am fascinated by social entrepreneurs, people who can take an idea and help it grow into a sustainable and successful business model, but also be able to make a social impact either through their product or through donations they make through their product. That\u2019s something that I\u2019m really inspired by. I want to learn how to apply that to projects and businesses that I start. Warby Parker is certainly one. And Lauren Bush, who works with the organization FEED. I work with her on my \u201CKookie\u201D project, where a portion of the proceeds go to FEED. She also designs bags and different accessories that raise funds and awareness for baby formula, school lunches, and all sorts of different great things.\nWhat exactly is the \u201CKookie\u201D project?\nIt\u2019s a combination of many things I care about: health and nutrition, but also baking, incorporating healthy alternative ingredients. Healthy foods can taste good. I wasn\u2019t always aware of that growing up in the Midwest. This is a project that I started about a year-and-a-half ago with Momofuku Milk Bar, with Christina Tosi. She and I collaborated to come up with this recipe using healthy, alternative ingredients. So, no butter, no sugar, no eggs, no dairy, and none of the things you automatically think of when you think of a cookie. We eliminated all of those and decided to work with almond butter, agave, and olive oil, toasted slivered almonds, and gluten-free rolled oats. We created this cookie, and launched it for Fashion\u2019s Night Out. We\u2019ve been able to sell it in bakeries around the city and we\u2019ve donated 500,000 school lunches from the sales over the past year-and-a-half.\nWhat did you learn about the gritty business side? Are the margins on cookies tighter when you\u2019re working with more expensive ingredients?\nI\u2019m fascinated by business, and I love new challenges. I\u2019m hoping to scale this project into an actual business that can be profitable, sustainable, and can grow, but can make social impact in the way Warby Parker has been able to accomplish. For me, it\u2019s a challenge I\u2019m facing now&amp;#8211;how to scale and keep costs down to be able to make it affordable and accessible on a mass scale, and not to lose the quality of your product.\nAny big business projects on your horizon?\nAlways! Always excited about where life leads. Again, I just enjoy continuing to learn and I\u2019m an entrepreneur at heart. I\u2019m just trying to learn from everyone I possibly can. I\u2019m always working on small projects, but I\u2019ll be sure to keep you posted."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://fortune.com/2014/06/19/victorias-secret-model-karlie-kloss-gets-down-to-business/>