How Africa News
Gisele Bündchen, a Brazilian model, began her profession as a youngster. She relocated to New York City in 1997 and rapidly gained recognition among fashion journals and renowned designers. Bündchen received a $25 million contract with Victoria’s Secret in 2000, making her one of the world’s highest-paid models. Bündchen married professional football player Tom Brady in 2009.
Early Life and Career
Bündchen is one of five sisters, born on July 20, 1980, just minutes before her fraternal twin sister. Bündchen was bullied as a child for being tall and slender, yet these characteristics would eventually help her establish her modeling career.
A modeling agent discovered Bündchen at a fast-food restaurant. After some reluctance, the adolescent beauty decided to try her hand at modeling. She began her career in Brazil before making her runway debut at New York Fashion Week in 1996. She relocated to New York City the next year. During this time, Bündchen got one of her first big breaks when designer Alexander McQueen chose her for his runway show.
Career Highlights
By the late 1990s, Bündchen had established herself as a sought-after model, appearing on the pages of Vogue and other fashion magazines around the world. She has worked with top designers such as Dolce & Gabbana. Bündchen made headlines in 2000 when she signed a lucrative $25 million contract with the iconic lingerie business Victoria’s Secret. Rolling Stone magazine dubbed Bündchen “The Most Gorgeous Girl in the World” the same year.
According to Forbes magazine, by 2004, Bündchen had become the highest-paid model in the world. At this time, she tried her hand at acting, appearing in the comic flop Taxi alongside Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. Bündchen fared better two years later, with a modest role in the fashion dramedy The Devil Wears Prada, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Bündchen ended her connection with Victoria’s Secret in 2007, yet she remained a popular model. In fact, she topped the Forbes list yet again, this time beating highly famous models like Heidi Klum.
Bündchen has occasionally found herself in the heart of controversy, such as in 2011 for a series of TV commercials that aired in Brazil. Bündchen strutted her stuff in these lingerie commercials, which encouraged women to use their sex appeal to get out of a variety of sticky situations. A government department dedicated to women’s issues called for the ads to be pulled, saying “the campaign promotes the misguided stereotype of a woman as a sexual object,” according to Marie Claire magazine.
In 2012, Bündchen made headlines once more when she appeared naked in Vogue Paris magazine, proving to the world that she was still one of the hottest models working today.
Personal Life and Husband
Bündchen, a former girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio, married professional football player Tom Brady in 2009. During that year, the couple gave birth to their first child, a son called Benjamin Rein Brady. In 2012, Bündchen gave birth to their second child, daughter Vivian.
Outside of modeling, Bündchen is a supporter of several charities and causes. She has a sandal business and donates some of the revenues to the Gisele Bündchen Forest in Brazil. In her home state of Rio Grande do Sul, Bündchen created Agua Limpa, a water conservation and plant recovery initiative, in 2008. She has also acted as a United Nations Environment Programme goodwill ambassador.
