NEW YORK – Heidi Klum is throwing the liveliest Halloween party in over two decades. Even though she's now the undeniable “Queen of Halloween,” it wasn't always that way.

The idea for the party came from the lack of other viable hotspots, she says. She remembers years ago walking around New York with a friend and thinking, “I can't believe it, this is Manhattan…nobody has a really cool party like that?”

So she created her own – and borrowed heavily from the costumes.

“People want to be cool,” she says, “but I feel like when you dress smart, the cool factor goes away and everyone has more fun. It’s a great shield.”

Halloween 2024: Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, other stars transform into elaborate costumes

Klum has led by example, completely transforming himself over the years with prosthetics, special effects makeup and, two years ago, an elaborate worm costume that quickly went viral.

In honor of spooky season, Klum lit up the New York skyline this week. The supermodel and “America's Got Talent” judge kicked off preparations for her annual Halloween party on Tuesday with a symbolic lighting of the Empire State Building.

The New York landmark is illuminated predominantly orange and enriched with a touch of green reminiscent of a pumpkin.

After pulling the giant lever to “light up” the building and posing for the cameras in a colorful orange outfit, complete with ruby ​​red Dorothy-style slippers, Klum sat down with USA TODAY to talk all things surrounding Halloween to talk and preview their legendary party.

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Heidi Klum looks back on her favorite costumes

While some early get-ups were less elaborate, Klum still looks back fondly on these costumes.

“I was, in a way, more involved in hooking it up myself,” she says, recalling running to a medical supply store to pick up a skeleton to dismantle for one of her first disguises.

In 2011, she opted for a Planet of the Apes-inspired costume, which she calls her favorite. However, it was difficult to go to the bathroom indoors, she says, and she felt a bit of panic at the end of the night when she couldn't find a makeup artist who could remove the prosthetics.

“I learned so many things from it,” jokes Klum.

She is also proud of the year she turned 90.

“That was when I turned 40 and people thought, 'If you stop modeling, you'll be 40 because you should hang up your wings and everything else,'” Klum says. “But I thought, ‘Old? I'll show you 'old'.” To complete the look, she wore contact lenses that darkened her eyes to show aging.

Then there was the multi-person Peacock costume and the year she danced down the street as the werewolf from the “Thriller” music video. “I love them all, even my very first one,” says Klum.

Heidi Klum crawls into her Halloween party as a fishing worm and gets hugs from daughter Leni

Heidi Klum's no-last-minute costume rule

She chooses her costume a year in advance and doesn't change her mind, even sometimes despite her team's protests. For example, several people were against the worm costume, but she stuck with it.

“I basically start the next day (after Halloween the year before)… I rack my brain,” she says of her costume planning. “Why do people find out two days beforehand? It is difficult.”

Klum always chooses to unveil a big costume at the party, and she isn't sure about this year's outfit, although she says it will be time-consuming.

“This is going to take a hot minute,” she says. Klum plans to start preparations around 11 a.m. and hopes to be ready for the carpet by 9 p.m.

Leni Klum accompanies mom Heidi into the modeling world

Her eldest daughter Leni Klum will also be at the party this year, fresh off the back of a new mother-daughter lingerie campaign.

“She has watched me her whole life, just like all my children,” says Klum about her daughter’s entry into the modeling industry. “They’ve seen firsthand what it’s like and they’re not afraid of the camera.”

Heidi Klum and daughter Leni model lingerie in the new campaign photo shoot

The only important advice she gave her daughter was to say no. Once you choose a job, it's important to follow through, says Klum, but she wants her daughter to know: “If there's something you don't want to do, you should basically be able to say no.” to say.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Halloween: Heidi Klum talks Party 2024 and costume mishaps