‘La’ Bündchen: Brazilianness Becomes a Global Fashion Trend

The third of six daughters of Vânia Maria Monnenmacher and Valdir Bündchen, Gisele Caroline Bündchen, was born minutes before her twin sister Patrícia in Horizontina, in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, on July 20, 1980.

Raised amidst nature, the energetic girl enjoyed helping with chores on her maternal grandparents’ farm. Her tall stature and lean silhouette led her to take an interest in volleyball, ballet, gymnastics, and track and field.

She even considered becoming a professional volleyball player. It was sport’s loss and fashion’s gain that Olive Oyl – as the skinny and adventurous animal lover was nicknamed – felt at home on the catwalks.

In 1994, Gisele took a modeling course with her sisters and friends. On a trip to a mall in São Paulo, she was invited to visit the Elite agency. She accepted and never looked back.

She then spent three months (alone) in Japan, featuring on magazine covers, fashion editorials, advertising campaigns, and fashion shows. Aged 16, Gisele moved to New York, where she took part in Fashion Week. Her schedule was filled with auditions and more auditions.

She began to emerge on the international scene and drew attention in Alexander McQueen’s “Rain” show in 1998. In contrast to the prevailing image of a serious, pale, skinny model with an undefined sexuality, known as heroin chic...

From 1998 onwards, the model worked on campaigns and fashion shows for iconic haute couture and ready-to-wear brands such as Christian Dior, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Versace, and Celine. Gise, as her family calls her, also embraced more affordable fast fashion, like that of C&A.

A lover of animals, Gisele adopted a mini Yorkshire terrier named Vida in 1998, who accompanied her on her constant work trips. Vida passed away in 2012 but still makes the top model sigh with nostalgia.

The girl from Rio Grande do Sul was named model of the year at the Phytoervas Fashion Awards (1998) and the Vogue Fashion Awards (1999), and her face graced one of the industry’s most famous publications: the French ‘Vogue.’

She amassed 450 advertising campaigns, 500 fashion shows, and approximately 1,200 fashion magazine covers from all over the world (her international debut was the British ‘Marie Claire,’ followed by ‘Vogue,’ ‘Harper’s Bazaar,’ ‘Elle,’ ‘Allure,’ ‘i-D’).

She also appeared on the covers of business, celebrity, entertainment, and news publications (‘Time,’ ‘Forbes,’ ‘Newsweek,’ ‘Rolling Stone’). Between 2000 and 2007, the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret enlisted her for their team of Angels, which brings together the world’s hottest top models.

A fan of music, parties, joy, and Brazilian culture, Gisele has attended performances by national artists like the singers Gilberto Gil, Alcione, and Caetano Veloso. Alongside Ivete Sangalo, she performed a duet at the Rock in Rio festival, at the opening of the Mundo stage, in the City of Rock.

In 2001 and 2023, she enjoyed the Rio Carnival from a brewery’s VIP box. The experience was later repeated on the streets: Gisele paraded with the theme “Myths and Stories Intertwined by Strands of Hair” for the Unidos de Vila Isabel Samba School in 2011.

In 2003, the model danced on the float of the Crocodilo street party during the Carnival in the Bahia state capital Salvador, where she met with Caetano Veloso.

She was named the world’s richest top model in 2007. In 2023, her fortune was estimated at $400 million. The most iconic brand in fashion and the cosmetics industry, Chanel, chose her for its makeup line campaign in 2013, and the following year she became the face of Chanel nº5.

A vegetarian, she practices yoga and meditation and is actively engaged in social causes. She supports initiatives for victims of breast cancer and AIDS, the Zero Hunger program, and forest peoples in the Xingu and the Amazon.

She was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Environment by UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) in 2009. In 2006, she shot a documentary about the peoples of the Xingu. The Kisedjê people named her Pyimberi, which means “very beautiful woman” in the Kamayura language.

Nature brought them together, and American football player Tom Brady divided them. But between these two blondes, the girl from Horizontina dated surfing champion Kelly Slater and actors Josh Hartnett and Chris Evans.

Gisele and Brady began dating in 2006 and wed three years later in a Catholic church in Santa Monica, California. They had two children together, Benjamin (2009) and Vivian (2012). The couple separated in October 2022.

The world’s most successful model crossed 128 meters of Maracanã turf at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. On that occasion, she was accompanied by the bossa nova anthem ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ by Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes.

She has posed for the biggest names in photography, such as Annie Leibovitz, Irving Penn, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Bob Wolfenson, Gui Paganini, Herb Ritts, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, David LaChapelle, Patrick Demarchelier, David Sims, Gilles Bensimon, Juergen Teller, and others.

In 2015, to mark her 20-year career, she published the book ‘Gisele Bündchen’, organized by the art director Giovanni Bianco. In 2018, she released her autobiography ‘Lessons.’ She is preparing a book of easy and healthy recipes for 2024.