Gisele Bündchen

Gisele Caroline Bündchen is a Brazilian model and activist born on July 20, 1980, in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul. Raised in a Catholic German-Brazilian family alongside five sisters, including a fraternal twin, her father was a university professor and her mother was a banker. In 1993, her mother enrolled her in a modeling course. After being discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping center, Bündchen placed second in the national Elite Model Look contest. She moved to São Paulo in 1995 to pursue modeling and debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.

After signing with IMG Models in 1999, Vogue credited Bündchen with ending the heroin chic era of modeling. She earned her first U.S. Vogue cover that year, won the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year award, and was labeled an "über" model by New York magazine editor Sally Singer. In 2000, she appeared on 37 international Vogue covers, was named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Rolling Stone, and fronted the advertising campaign for Dior's Dior Saddle bag.

Bündchen served as a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2006. During this period, she modeled the $15 million Red Hot Fantasy Bra in 2000 and the $12.5 million Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005. She is credited with popularizing the horse walk runway technique. By 2015, Bündchen had appeared in over 550 advertising campaigns, 2,000 magazine covers, and 800 fashion shows.

Since 2001, Bündchen has been among the world's highest-paid models, topping the Forbes highest-paid models list from 2005 to 2016. Her flip-flop line for Ipanema sold over 250 million pairs by 2010. She launched Sejaa Pure Skincare in 2011, became a spokesperson for Pantene, Chanel, and Under Armour, and released her bestselling memoir Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life in 2018.

Outside modeling, Bündchen acted in Taxi (2004)—earning Teen Choice Award nominations for Choice Movie Female Breakout Star and Choice Movie Villain—and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). She executive produced the animated series Gisele & the Green Team, appeared in Years of Living Dangerously, and recorded musical covers for H&M charity campaigns, including "Heart of Glass" with Bob Sinclar. She also walked in the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

Bündchen has been a United Nations Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador since 2009 and supports charities such as Save the Children, the Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders. In 2021, she left IMG Models after 22 years, appointing her twin sister Patricia as her manager. In 2023, she reunited with Victoria's Secret for its Icons campaign.