MODEL, mother, businesswoman, billionaire, supermodel, superwoman: not since the original supers of the Nineties has there been a model with such power and influence as Gisele Bundchen. Her Amazonian body and striking beauty were the antithesis of can't-be-bothered late-Nineties grunge and spawned a wave of more womanly models. More than any other before her, Bundchen parlayed her beauty and body into a multi-million-pound brand - and is now on the cusp of becoming the first ever model billionaire.

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• Born July 20, 1980 in a small Brazilian town, Três de Maio, Bundchen - whose name is of German descent - grew up in Rio Grande do Sul with her parents and five sisters: Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela and her non-identical twin sister Patrícia.
• Bundchen was famously scouted on a school trip to Sao Paulo when she was 13, before entering the Elite Look of the Year contest. She only achieved fourth place at the final, held in Ibiza, but began her modelling career in earnest shortly after, making her catwalk debut at New York Fashion Week in 1996.
• Alexander McQueen gave Bundchen her high-fashion break when he chose her to walk in his famous Rain show in 1997 - christening her "the body".
• In 1998 she secured her first British Vogue cover, and became the most in-demand cover girl of her generation with 10 covers in less than four years - even Kate Moss has never graced more than nine in the same period.

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• In the same year, she cemented her wide-ranging appeal with campaigns for labels as varied as Missoni, Chloé, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, and Versace.
• In 2000, Bundchen went from model to supermodel as she signed a record-breaking $25 million contract with Victoria's Secret, making her one of the only models known to women - for her high-fashion campaigns, catwalk appearances and covers - and to men.

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• Her appeal to designers didn't wane, however, and in 2000 she opened shows for Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, and Valentino - and walked with supermodels including Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Eva Herzigova in John Galliano's 10th anniversary Christian Dior Couture collection show. The designer named it one of the highlights of his career.

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• In the same year, Gisele became only the fourth model ever to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, which named her "the most beautiful girl in the world" - and was heralded by US Vogue as the standard-bearer of "the return of the sexy model". She also simultaneously graced the covers of both the US and British editions of Vogue in January 2000, the first issue of the new millennium.

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• In 2000, Gisele began dating Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The duo split in 2005, without ever speaking about the reasons behind the break-up, by which time Gisele had gone from movie star's girlfriend to star in her own right.
• In 2004, she was named the world's highest-paid model by Forbes, an accolade she has held ever since thanks to endorsement deals and branded collections with labels from Apple to Volkswagen.

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• 2004 also saw Gisele's acting debut, as the leader of a gang of bank robbers in the Tim Story-directed film Taxi. Despite the film's critical panning, she received another film role - a cameo this time - as Serena, a friend of long-suffering assistant Emily in iconic fashion film The Devil Wears Prada in 2006.
• In December 2006, Gisele met Tom Brady. "I knew right away - the first time I saw him," she told Vanity Fair later. "We met through a friend. The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, 'That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I've ever seen!' We sat and talked for three hours. I had to go home for Christmas, but I didn't want to leave. You know that feeling of, like, you can't get enough? From the first day we met, we've never spent one day without speaking to each other."

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• Shortly after Gisele and Brady met, his former girlfriend - actress Bridget Moynahan - announced that she was pregnant with his child and planned to have the baby on her own. "In the beginning you're living this romantic fantasy; you're thinking, 'This can't be true, it's so good!' And then, whoops - wake-up call!" she said later. "We were dating two-and-a-half months when he found out, and it was a very challenging situation. Obviously, in the beginning, it's not the ideal thing. [But] I think it was a blessing, because otherwise I don't think I would have known what he was made of, and he wouldn't have known what I was made of. I wouldn't have seen the integrity in him - the way he was a good person through all the times." Brady's son Jack - who Gisele now refers to as her "eldest" - has encouraged Gisele to split her time between Boston and LA, where Jack lives, in order to spend as much time as a family as possible.
• 2008 saw a black-and-white photo of Bündchen, shot by Irving Penn, auctioned for $193,000 (£96,000) alongside images of other models and celebrities, including Carla Bruni. Gisele's fetched by far the most on the night.

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• In April 2009 Gisele married Brady, a Quarterback for the New England Patriots, at a small ceremony in Costa Rica attended by her family and close friends. "The bride donned a form-fitting ivory lace strapless gown with a trumpet skirt, scalloped edges, long train and a floor-length veil with attached handmade satin roses and attached satin headband, all by Dolce & Gabbana. Her three dogs also wore matching Dolce & Gabbana floral lace collars," Us Weekly reported at the time. No images of her dress were ever released.
• After much pregnancy speculation, Gisele stepped out with an obvious baby bump for the first time in July 2009, but remained low-key throughout her pregnancy - forgoing all red carpet events in favour of lunches with friends and trips to the gym.
• In December 2009, Gisele gave birth to her son Benjamin Rein Brady. She later talked in detail about the birth, which she asserted "'didn't hurt in the slightest", and detailed the yoga and meditation methods she used to ensure she had a "tranquil birth at home" in Boston.

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• Gisele graced the cover of the April 2010 issue of US Vogue, the magazine's annual Shape issue, debuting her post-baby body for the first time, around eight weeks after giving birth. "I did kung fu up until two weeks before Benjamin was born, and yoga three days a week," she told the magazine. "I think a lot of people get pregnant and decide they can turn into garbage disposals. I was mindful about what I ate, and I gained only 30 pounds."

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• The supermodel angered some mothers soon after by declaring she thought there should be a "worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months". She later clarified her comments, saying: "I understand that everyone has their own experience and opinions and I am not here to judge. I believe that bringing a life into this world is the single most important thing a person can undertake and it can also be the most challenging. I think as mothers we are all just trying our best."
• Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake,  Bundchen donated $1.5 million, more than was given by many governments, and when asked why at the time, said: "because I can". She has also supported a variety of environmental causes, including clean water initiatives, environmental sustainability, and the preservation of South American rainforests, as well as cancer research and treatment. She has also donated money to help the victims of natural disaters including Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Every year, Bundchen chooses a charity, to which proceeds of sales from her Ipanema sandals are donated, with the 2011 donation going to ISA - the Socio-environmental Institute.
• In 2011, it was revealed that Gisele was outperforming the Dow Jones stock exchange - helping companies she represented to consistently beat their competitors.
• Bundchen has appeared on more than 600 covers worldwide to date, a total thought to be surpassed only by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and in 2011 was revealed to be on course to becoming the world's first billionaire model.

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