Horizontina (Brazil), 1980

By Fernanda Morotti

International model, selected in 2013 as one of the hundred most powerful women in the world by Forbes magazine.

Throughout her career, the supermodel from Rio Grande do Sul was considered the most beautiful, the richest, the sexiest, and the most celebrated professional in the field; she posed for the most famous luxury market brands. For seven consecutive years, she was the highest-paid model in the world; she accumulated a fortune valued at US$427 million. She has more than fifty magazine covers to her name. Only Princess Diana had more covers than the Brazilian.

Gisele belongs to the fifth generation of German immigrants in Brazil. Daughter of Valdir Bündchen and Vânia Nonnenmacher, she has a twin sister, Patricia, and four other sisters: Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, and Rafaela. She began her career at the age of fourteen at the Elite Model Management agency and built a professional and personal history free from controversies. Between 2001 and 2005, she was in a relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio; after breaking up with him, she had a brief romance with American surfer Kelly Slater, and in 2006 she began her relationship with American football player Tom Brady, whom she married on February 26, 2009. Together they have two children: Benjamin, born in 2009, and Vivian, in 2012.

She participated in two feature films, Taxi (2004) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). In 2009, she was named a goodwill ambassador by the United Nations Environment Programme for her commitment to environmental causes. She announced her retirement from the runways and in April 2015 performed her farewell fashion show during São Paulo Fashion Week.

Published on 02/02/2017 08:43, Content updated on 15/06/2017 12:35