Gisele Caroline B?ndchen, often simply known as Gisele, was born on
July 20, 1980 in Tr?s de Maio, near Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, in
southern Brazil. She is best known as a model but has recently
branched out into acting with a role in the 2004 movie Taxi.
She is the daughter of Valdir and V?nia B?ndchen, both of German
descent. Gisele has five sisters: Raquel, Graziela, Patricia, Gabriela
and Rafaela.
Patricia and Gisele are twins, but do not look the same. Gisele has
mentioned several times that at least one of her sisters has attempted
a modeling career as well. Pictures of her family reveal they share
the same statuesque bone structures, and long, wavy brown hair.
While in school, Gisele was so thin that her friends used to call her
"Ol?via Palito" (Portuguese for Olive Oyl, Popeye's skinny friend),
and Saracura (kind of bird with long legs). She liked to play
volleyball, and had even thought of becoming a professional for
Brazilian team Sogipa.
An often told story about the "discovery" of Gisele is when, as a
schoolgirl, Gisele went to a McDonalds and was eating a Big Mac when
an agent discovered the chesnut-haired beauty. In an interview, Gisele
remarked that she at first did not know what a model was, thinking it
was something perhaps akin to being a hooker.
In 1993, Gisele, 13 years old, joined the Dilson Stein's mannequin
course to correct her posture, with her sisters Patr?cia and Gabriela,
because her mother insisted. The course was for teenagers who wanted
to be models.
In May 1994, Stein took 50 girls to S?o Paulo to give them a chance to
walk in a big city and to let them be evaluated by Brazilian Elite
bookers (agents). On August 20, 1993 Gisele was playing volleyball for
Sogipa, in Porto Alegre. Elite "kidnapped" her and took her to a
contest. Gisele came between the five finalists. Then, she went to S?o
Paulo. She came in second in the national Elite Look of the Year
contest - Claudia Menezes, from Bahia, was the one in the first place.
In the world contest, in Ibiza, Gisele came in fourth. While Gisele
was easily noticeable for her beauty, she still endured physical
criticsm. One major criticsm she faced from agents was her large and
distinctive nose.
When a young, teenaged Gisele moved to New York City to begin her
runway debut at Fashion Week, she was so nervous she decided to get a
blue star tattoo on her wrist. The tattoo is very distinctive and
noticeable of the model, but there seems to be no attempt to cover it
up with make-up in photo shoots or runway shows. After her debut in
NYC, she was immediately embraced by the fashion world.
Gisele has done ads and runway shows for various fashion houses
including Valentino, Zara, Bvlgari, Tommy Hilfiger, Chloe, Celine,
Versace, Christian Dior, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Victoria's
Secret, and Dolce & Gabbana. She has also appeared on the covers of
Allure, Marie Claire, Vogue USA, Vogue Italia, Harper's Bazaar, Arena,
and Rolling Stone. Her curvaceous figure prompted Vogue to refer to
her body of work as the "return of the sexy model", since she seems to
have marked the end of a trend of "waif" models such as Kate Moss. In
2000 her annual earnings were reportedly $8 million and she commands
between $7000 and $15,000 per hour for runway shows.
Gisele has received the "Model of the Year" award and has been named
"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Rolling Stone. She has also
hosted the VH1 Fashion Awards and appeared on Late Night with Conan
O'Brien.
Gisele has a belly button piercing as well as the star tattoo on her
left wrist. She is well-known for her prominent chest and is
continually hailed as a "curvy, sexy model," when in fact she is still
quite underweight, at one time reportedly just 114 pounds at 5'11"
tall. Models such as Tyra Banks (in the 140s-lbs range) are more
suited to a "curvy" title. Former head of Elite Models, John
Casablancas, has had tiffs with Gisele; he once famously claimed that
her infamous breasts were fake and that she has slept her way to the
top.
She treasures her dog, Vida, and is currently living with actor
Leonardo DiCaprio in Los Angeles. Before Leonardo, she had been
romantically linked to male model Scott Barnhill, Brazilian tycoon
Jo?o Paulo Diniz, Big Joe and actor Josh Hartnett.
She endorses several Brazilian brands, notably including Vivo (a
cellular service company) and the Brazilian subsidiary of C&A (a major
retailer). Her brand of flip-flops have sold enormously well in her
native Brazil.
Her other homes include an apartment in Manhattan's Tribeca district
and a house near Woodstock, NY.
Her debut as an actress came in the 2004 movie Taxi. The film failed
miserably at the box office and at present Gisele seems to be entirely
focused on her enormously successful modeling career, rather than
pursuing other film roles.
Trivia
* Height: 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
* Weight: 125 lbs (57 kg)
* Measurements: 34-24-34 (inches); 86-61-86 (cm)
* Dress Size: 6-8 (US); 36-38 (EU)
* Shoe Size: 7 (US); 38 (EU)
* Eyes: Blue
* Hair: Light Brown
* Ethnicity: Deutschbrasilianer
* Nationality: Brazilian