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Fan Site dedicated to all things Gisele Bundchen.

Born: July 20, 1980
Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Occupation: Supermodel
Salary: 30 million [1]
Net worth: over $150 million USD
(Jul, 2006)
Website: Gisele.com

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: s? l?/ (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 /'b?nd ç??n/.

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.