NEW YORK – How far in advance does Heidi Klum plan her Halloween costume? The model tells USA TODAY that she already knows what she’ll be in 2026.

But right now, Klum is gearing up for the 2025 version of her “Heidi-ween” party in New York City. She once again collaborated with Academy Award-nominated makeup artist Mike Marino (“Coming 2 America,” “The Batman”), who uses 3D scans of her body to create custom-fit prosthetics that transform Klum and her husband Tom Kaulitz.

The “Project Runway” host reveals that the couple is once again dressing “within the same theme” (last year, the duo both dressed as E.T.).

“I wanted to be something that is very ugly and unusual, but something also that everyone will recognize and know,” Klum, 52, says after hitting the switch to light the Empire State Building for Halloween. “I love the transformation. I love when people don’t really see me in there anymore.”

For those fortunate enough to attend Klum’s annual Halloween bash, they’ll see the star partying in her costume, at least for part of the evening.

She confessed that she’d taken off last year’s E.T. costume after two hours “because I thought my neck was going to snap off.” Klum’s face was actually in the costume’s neck, with a large alien head placed above her. The weight of holding both her own head and the costume’s proved too much.

“It was impossible,” she laments. “Parts of the outside of my skull were already going numb. So I was like, ‘I can’t (wear this) because I might really mess something up.'”

Klum already had one close call for this year’s bash: her go-to DJ, The Roots drummer and music producer Questlove, almost bailed.

“Thankfully he worked it out, and he’s coming,” she says, breathing a sigh of relief. “He’s New York, and I love having my New York family do this every year with me.”

Klum says that her friends fly in for the party from all over the world, including her native Germany and Los Angeles.

Heidi Klum teases daughter Leni Klum’s 2025 Halloween costume

In addition to her husband, Klum’s daughter Leni will also be in attendance. The 21-year-old showed her mother a photo of her costume, but Klum still didn’t know what it was. However, the TV host doesn’t think it’s a prerequisite for a good Halloween costume to be an obvious item or person.

“We all have different bubbles that we live in and things that we love and are interested in,” she explains. “So you can’t know everything.”

Klum and her daughter also teamed up again for an ad campaign, modeling together for Italian lingerie brand Intimissimi.

“This is our fourth year already, and every year we’re being renewed,” Klum says of working with Leni. “So I think people love us in the campaign, which is what makes us super excited that we can continue doing that.”