Gisele Caroline Nonnenmacher Bündchen (born July 20, 1980) is a Brazilian supermodel who is constantly acclaimed as the most famous and the highest-paid model in the world. Gisele has appeared on countless billboards, print and TV ad's and magazine covers since her introduction on the fashion scene during the 1990s. She is currently the spokesperson of more than 20 brands internationally from countries like United States, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Italy, France, Korea, Turkey and Switzerland.

 Early life and career

Gisele was born in the southern Brazilian town of Três de Maio in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul. Her parents are Valdir and Vânia Bündchen, both of German and Russian descent. She comes from a large family of Brazilian descent, including her five sisters Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her fraternal twin Patrícia (whom Bündchen is older than by five minutes). Her first name is actually pronounced /'gi: sɛ lə/ (The e at the end of her name is not silent) but she says it doesn't matter to her now how people pronounce her name. Her last name is pronounced /'bʏnd çʲɛn/.

Originally, she wanted to be a professional volleyball player and considered playing for the Brazilian team, Sogipa. While in school, Bündchen was so thin that her friends used to call her "Olívia Palito" (Portuguese for Olive Oyl, Popeye's skinny girlfriend), and "Saracura" (a type of Brazilian shorebird). An oft-told story of Bündchen's "discovery" is that she was scouted by a modeling agent at the age fourteen while eating a Big Mac at a local McDonald's.

Prior to that, in 1993, a then-13-year-old Bündchen joined a modeling course with her sisters Patrícia and Gabriela at her mother's insistence. The course, instructed by Dilson Stein, was designed for teenagers aspiring to become models. The following year, Stein took Bündchen, along with some other girls to São Paulo to give them an opportunity to walk in a big city and to be evaluated by Brazilian Elite agents. She was subqeuently selected for a national contest, Elite Look of the Year, in which she placed second – Claudia Menezes, from Bahia, took first place. Bündchen placed fourth in the world contest, held in Ibiza, Spain. In 1996, Bündchen moved to New York City to begin her modeling career, debuting at Fashion Week.

 Modeling career

After winning the prestigious VH1/Vogue Model of the Year award in 1999, she went on to co-host the ceremony in 2000, along with actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.. Vogue named her the "model of the millennium" and has referred to her as the "return of the sexy model". In 2000 she was the fourth model in the history to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, when she was named "the most beautiful girl in the world".

Since her debut, she has been the face of a variety of advertising campaigns including several seasons of Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Versace, Céline, Givenchy, Bulgari, Lanvin, Guerlain, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Earl Jean, Zara, Chloé, Michael Kors, and Louis Vuitton. Bündchen is also the face of several Brazilian brands like Vivo, Brazil's leading mobile company, Multiplan, Colcci and Credicard. After Brazilian clothier C&A hired her and started their television commercials, C&A sales had an increase of 30%.

In May of 2006, Bündchen signed another multi-million dollar deal, this time with American giant Apple Computer. She starred in a advertising campaign to promote the new Macintosh line through the Get a Mac advertisements.

She has her own line of sandals with shoes company Grendene, called Ipanema Gisele Bündchen, which have sold more than 100 million pairs since 2001. She is also the owner of a hotel in the south of Brazil, the Palladium Executive.

Bündchen consistently works with the industry's most talented photographers, like Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, Nick Knight, Mert and Marcus, Rankin, Annie Leibovitz, Karl Lagerfeld, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Sorrenti and Patrick Demarchelier, among others.

Bündchen has also graced the covers of thousands of magazines from all over the globe like Vogue (American, Italian, British, French, Brazilian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish), W, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Allure, i-D, The Face, Arena (magazine), Citizen K, Flair, Time, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Newsweek, Esquire, Veja, GQ and Marie Claire. Gisele has also walked the Victoria's Secret runway, along with Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Adriana Lima, and countless other beautiful "angels". She was also seen in Victoria's Secret commercials and ad campaigns, and Victoria's Secret Magazine. Thes are considered very high achievements for a model in the industry.

 Film career

Regarding a film career, Bündchen has said "I think it would be interesting," but counters "I'm young and I like what I do for now and I understand that everything in life happens for the moment."

She made her movie debut in the 2004 comedy Taxi, alongside Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. She also made a cameo appearance in the 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada.

 Personal life

When she is not working or traveling, Bündchen enjoys spending time with her family and friends and also with her dog Vida, a Yorkshire terrier. Bündchen supports Balipodo, a soccer club from her hometown, and she announced in 2005 that she will help promote their image.

Her first boyfriend in the United States was model Scott Barnhill, whom she dated for six months. After Barnhill, Bündchen was linked with hotel tycoon Vikram Chatwal and actor Josh Hartnett, but there was never any confirmation about this.

In one of her trips back to Brazil, for a fashion show, she met João Paulo Diniz, a Brazilian billionaire. They were photographed kissing each other by the paparazzi but she broke up with him when she returned to New York. More recently, she was linked to actor Chris Evans. Bündchen had a five-year on-again, off-again relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. They started dating in 2000 and broke up in November of 2005. After DiCaprio, Bündchen dated surfer Kelly Slater.

 Charity work

Bündchen designed a limited edition necklace for Harper's Bazaar, crafted by jewelers Gumuchian Fils, which was sold to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital, wich specializes in cancer treatment. Bündchen also serves as the spokesperson and campaign model for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.

She will be the face of a new campaign to protect the Amazon's Xingu River from deforestation and pollution. The campaign is called Y Ikatu Xingu. She will bring attention to the fact that the Amazon's waters are in danger. Bündchen had visited the area in 2004 and met the Xingu, one of the biggest Native Brazilian tribes.

 Controversy

 John Casablancas

Bündchen's rise to fame has not come without controversy. Like Heidi Klum and several other models, she moved from her original agency Elite Model Management to IMG. John Casablancas, head of Elite, accused Bündchen of being a stoner who slept her way to the top, though he has now stated that he was misquoted. . Casablancas also filed a $15 million lawsuit against her.