Quick answer
Who is Gisele Bündchen?
Gisele Bündchen (born 20 July 1980 in Horizontina, Brazil) is a Brazilian fashion model. Tracked for Louis Vuitton and continuing global campaign work. Gisele Bündchen is followed on Global Watch, outside the numbered Global 50.
At a glance
How old and how tall is Gisele Bündchen?
Gisele Bündchen was born on 20 July 1980 in Horizontina, Brazil, which makes Gisele 46 as of 5 October 2026. Gisele Bündchen’s recorded height is 180 cm (5 ft 11 in), according to Wikidata. Agency measurements can differ slightly.
- Born
- 20 July 1980 (age 46)
- Birthplace
- Horizontina, Brazil
- Height
- 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
- Nationality
- Brazil
- Disciplines
- Campaigns, Cultural
- Cast Index status
- Global Watch (unnumbered)
- @gisele
Birth date, birthplace and height from Wikidata (Q152208), retrieved . Agencies from the listed sources. Profile updated .
The perspective
What is Gisele Bündchen known for?
Louis Vuitton and continuing global campaign work
The published assessment
Is Gisele Bündchen on the Global 50?
Gisele Bündchen is followed on Global Watch, outside the numbered Global 50.
Each pillar reflects an editorial assessment of the published record. The weighted rating belongs to the snapshot.
Index Rating · Editorial pillars · High confidence · evidence reviewed
55.0
- Runway · 40%
- 15
-
15 / 100 - Campaigns · 30%
- 85
-
85 / 100 - Editorial · 20%
- 70
-
70 / 100 - Cultural aura · 10%
- 95
-
95 / 100
Evidence behind the assessment
- Fronted Frame's Spring 2024 campaign, Arezzo's Summer 2024 campaign, and Elisabetta Franchi's Fall/Winter 2025 campaign.
- Has said she no longer walks runways — 'I never said I would retire, just that I would no longer do runways' — and now works campaigns exclusively.
New work and corrections can change the assessment. A profile’s confidence label describes the depth of its source review.
The runway record
Which shows has Gisele Bündchen walked?
No show-by-show walks for Gisele Bündchen are on the Cast Index ledger yet; the sources above give the career record.
A source-linked selection across seasons, rather than a complete booking history. Open the source for the original record.
A show-by-show record has not yet been added. The source links above provide the available career context.
Career & background
The story so far.
Biography last reviewed .
Early life
Gisele Caroline Bündchen was born on 20 July 1980 in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, one of six sisters and a fraternal twin, to university professor Valdir Bündchen and bank worker Vânia Nonnenmacher; her grandfather Walter Bündchen had been mayor of Horizontina. She was enrolled by her mother in a confidence-building modelling course in 1993, discovered by Elite Model Management scouts at a São Paulo shopping mall, and placed second in the Elite Model Look competition, moving to São Paulo in 1995 and debuting at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
Breakthrough and a defining decade, 1998–2007
After being rejected 42 times in London, Bündchen was cast by Alexander McQueen in 1998, beginning an 11-season run of consecutive Dolce & Gabbana campaigns that ran through 2003, alongside Missoni, Chloé, Valentino and Versace. In 1999 she fronted her first American Vogue cover, which the magazine framed as "the return of the sexy model," and won VH1/Vogue’s Model of the Year award. In 2000, Rolling Stone named her "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," she appeared on 37 international Vogue covers that year, and she signed a multi-year Victoria’s Secret contract, wearing the $15 million Red Hot Fantasy Bra as she stepped back from general runway work to focus on campaigns and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. She wore the $12.5 million Sexy Splendor Fantasy Bra in 2005 and took a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006.
Peak earnings and industry recognition, 2010–2018
Bündchen closed Balenciaga’s runway show in 2010, her 11th American Vogue cover appearing that April, and fronted eight Vogue covers in 2011 alone — the most of any model that year — with her Vogue Brasil "Amazon" cover becoming the magazine’s best-selling issue at 70,743 copies. By 2012 she had appeared on roughly 120 Vogue covers and was named to Time’s "All-Time 100 Fashion Icons" list. She became the face of Chanel Les Beiges makeup in 2013 and Chanel No. 5’s spokeswoman in May 2014, followed by an Under Armour deal that September; in June 2014–June 2015 she set a Guinness World Record as the highest-earning model. She was Forbes’ top-earning model every year from 2005 to 2016, and published the bestselling memoir "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life" in 2018.
Recent record, 2021–2025
Bündchen left IMG Models in February 2021 after 22 years, with her twin sister Patricia becoming her manager. She returned for Victoria’s Secret’s "Icons" campaign in 2023, and received a Fashion Awards Lifetime Achievement honour in 2024. She announced a pregnancy with partner Joaquim Valente in November 2024, gave birth to their first child together — her third overall — in February 2025, and married Valente in Surfside, Florida, on 3 December 2025.
At a glance
Quick facts.
- Born 20 July 1980 in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, a sixth-generation German-Brazilian and fraternal twin
- Discovered by Elite Model Management scouts at a São Paulo shopping mall; debuted at New York Fashion Week in 1996
- Fronted her first American Vogue cover in 1999, which the magazine framed as "the return of the sexy model," and won VH1/Vogue’s Model of the Year the same year
- Named "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Rolling Stone in 2000
- Was Forbes’ top-earning model every year from 2005 to 2016
- Set a Guinness World Record as the highest-earning model, June 2014 to June 2015
