Gisele Bündchen: the model who ended heroin chic and topped Forbes

Gisele Bündchen is the model who closed one era of fashion and opened the next. When she arrived in New York and Europe in the late 1990s, the industry was dominated by very thin, pale "heroin chic" faces. A tall, tanned, athletic Brazilian with a stomping walk changed that within a couple of seasons, and stayed at the top of the business for almost two decades.

This address was her portfolio page in the old jurgita.com model directory, and sites such as AskMen still link to it. We have rebuilt it as a full profile with a model's career at its centre: how she was found, why the early years were hard, what made her the highest-paid model in the world and what anyone starting out can take from her story. For another rebuilt profile from the same directory, see Travis Fimmel, from Calvin Klein model to Ragnar.

Gisele Bündchen at a glance

A volleyball player from a small town

Bündchen grew up in Horizontina, a town of German-Brazilian families in Rio Grande do Sul. Her father was a university professor and her mother worked at a bank, and she was one of six sisters, including her fraternal twin Patrícia. Her first ambition was to play volleyball.

In 1993 her mother signed her and two of her sisters up for a modelling course, mainly to help with posture and confidence. The course ended with a trip to Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and in a São Paulo shopping centre a scout from Elite Model Management stopped her. She came second in Elite's national contest, then called Look of the Year, moved to São Paulo in 1995 and debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996.

Forty-two rejections and one McQueen show

Young Gisele Bündchen did not fit what casting directors wanted in the mid-1990s. Fashion was in its heroin chic years, and a tanned, athletic girl with curves was not what most castings were looking for. In 1997 she was turned down 42 times in London before Alexander McQueen cast her in his show "Untitled" in 1998.

That season changed everything. In 1998 she shot campaigns for Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Ralph Lauren and Versace, and landed covers of Vogue Paris, British Vogue and i-D. In 1999 she left Elite for IMG Models and appeared on three US Vogue covers that year. The first ran with the line "the return of the sexy model", and Vogue has since credited her with ending heroin chic.

The walk that models still copy

Bündchen is credited with popularising the "horse walk": knees lifted high, feet kicked forward, a strong and slightly bouncing stride. The Wall Street Journal used her as the reference point when it explained how models walk in 2008. It suited the sexier, more athletic clothes of the early 2000s and became one of the most copied walks on the catwalk.

If you are learning to walk, do not copy any one model. Start with posture, rhythm and footwork, then build a walk that fits your body and the brand. Our guides to how to walk like a model and to the runway model job explain the basics.

Victoria's Secret and the bombshell years

Bündchen was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2006. In 2000 she wore the Red Hot Fantasy Bra, valued at 15 million dollars and listed by Guinness World Records as the most expensive lingerie ever made, and in 2005 the Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra. In 2000 Rolling Stone put her on its cover as "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and that year she appeared on 37 international Vogue covers.

She ended her Victoria's Secret contract in May 2007. In her 2018 memoir she wrote that she had become uncomfortable being photographed in lingerie. She came back once, for the brand's Icons campaign with other former Angels in 2023.

The highest-paid model in the world

From 2002 to 2016 Bündchen topped Forbes's annual list of the world's highest-paid models. When Kendall Jenner took first place in 2017, Forbes wrote that it was the first time since 2002 that Bündchen was not the highest-earning model; she was second that year with an estimated 17.5 million dollars. Forbes's estimates for her best years run above 40 million dollars a year.

The money did not come from the runway. It came from long contracts with beauty, fragrance, fashion and lifestyle brands in Brazil and abroad, from licensing such as her Ipanema sandal line, and from her own businesses. Bündchen herself has disputed Forbes's figures as inflated. That is also why we do not give a "net worth" number: the totals that circulate online are guesses, not published accounts.

How model earnings work at every level, from first test shoots to campaigns, is explained in how much models make and the highest-paid models.

Beyond modelling: film, books and the environment

Bündchen co-starred in the 2004 remake of Taxi and played Serena, a staffer at Runway magazine, in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. She has written two books: the memoir Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life (2018), a New York Times bestseller, and the cookbook Nourish (Clarkson Potter, March 2024).

Since 2009 she has been a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. Her environmental work focuses on forests and water in Brazil, including a clean-water project in her home town and reforestation of the Atlantic Forest and along the Xingu and Araguaia rivers.

Farewell to the runway

Bündchen walked her last professional runway show on 15 April 2015 for the Brazilian brand Colcci at São Paulo Fashion Week, almost twenty years after her New York debut. She did not stop modelling for campaigns; she stopped doing fashion weeks. A year later, on 5 August 2016, she walked alone across the Maracanã stadium at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, watched by a worldwide television audience.

Height, age and looks

How tall is Gisele Bündchen? Wikidata lists 180 cm, or about 5 ft 11 in, right at the top of the range agencies usually ask of female fashion models.

How old is Gisele Bündchen? She was born on 20 July 1980, so she turned 46 in July 2026.

Her look. Long, sun-streaked light brown hair and an athletic build. In 2006 more than half of the American stylists surveyed by Elle named her hair the best in Hollywood. Her look broke the rules of the time, which is part of why it became the rule for the next decade.

Private life in brief

Bündchen married NFL quarterback Tom Brady on 26 February 2009; they have a son and a daughter, and their divorce was finalised on 28 October 2022. In February 2025 she had a son with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente, whom she married in December 2025. Her twin sister Patrícia has managed her career since she left IMG Models in 2021. We keep this part short on purpose: the rest belongs to her family.

What aspiring models can learn from her career

• Rejection is part of the job. Forty-two noes in one city did not mean she was wrong for modelling; it meant the market had not caught up yet.
• Your difference can be your value. She was booked in the end for the very things that got her rejected at first.
• Representation matters. She changed agencies when the old one no longer suited her. Read how to choose a modeling agency before you sign, and check the terms in the modeling contract.
• Campaigns, not catwalks, pay the bills. Runway builds a name; long brand contracts build income.
• Plan for after. Books, a business and causes she cares about kept her relevant long after fashion weeks. Our guide to older models shows how careers continue.

Frequently asked questions

How was Gisele Bündchen discovered?

After a modelling course her mother signed her up for in 1993, she was spotted by Elite Model Management in a São Paulo shopping centre. She then came second in Elite's national contest and moved to São Paulo in 1995.

How tall is Gisele Bündchen?

Wikidata lists 180 cm, about 5 ft 11 in, which is at the top of the usual range for female fashion models.

How old is Gisele Bündchen?

She was born on 20 July 1980 in Horizontina, Brazil, which makes her 46 in 2026.

Was Gisele Bündchen a Victoria's Secret Angel?

Yes, from 1999 to 2006. She wore the 15-million-dollar Red Hot Fantasy Bra in 2000 and ended her contract in May 2007. She returned for the brand's Icons campaign in 2023.

Is Gisele Bündchen in The Devil Wears Prada?

Yes. She plays Serena, a member of staff at the fictional Runway magazine, in the 2006 film.

What is Gisele Bündchen's net worth?

There is no published figure. Forbes estimated her yearly earnings while she topped its highest-paid models list from 2002 to 2016, and she has disputed those estimates; totals that circulate online are guesses.