Brazil-born Bunchen is one of the most recognized and highly-paid models of all time. The Cancerian (Bunchen was born on July 20, 1980 five minutes ahead of her fraternal twin Patricia) broke onto the scene in 1995 after winning fourth place in Elite Model`s International Look of the Year contest. A year later she moved to New York where she quickly became a runway favorite, and appeared on magazine covers including Vogue, Elle, and Bazaar. Since her debut Gisele has been the face of Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Missoni, Versace, Lanvin, Valentino, Vogue Sunglasses, Ralph Lauren, and Louis Vuitton among many others. These high-profile gigs???as well as her own footwear line called Ipanema Gisele B??ndchen???helped her become one of the World`s 15 Top-Earning Supermodels in 2007 according to Forbes Magazine. Her notable off-runway appearances include a cameos fashion film The Devil Wears Prada, starring role in 2004 comedy Taxi. After having a five year on-again-off-again relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio form 2000 to 2005, Bunchen made headlines when she started dating New England Quarterback Tom Brady in 2006, whose ex-girlfriend, Brigitte Monahan was then pregnant with his child. Bunchen`s most constant companion is her Yorkshire Terrior, Vida.
