Gisele Bündchen Cries as She Retires from the Runway at São Paulo Fashion Week
Gisele Bündchen retires from the runway in Brazil. Photo: Getty Images
Fashion fanatics mark your calendars. April 15, 2015 is the day that the world’s highest paid supermodel retired from the runway. She took her first step on the catwalk at age 14, and now, 20 years later—and after strutting for every major designer in the industry—supermodel Gisele Bündchen has bid adeus to the runway for good today at the Colcci show during São Paulo Fashion Week. What an emotional moment it must have been for a model of her stature to retire in her home country. There are still two more full days of Summer 2016 collections to be shown in Brazil, but this one is certainly the most significant.
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And of course the mega-model, who is usually super upbeat and effervescent, could not help but feel the emotional heaviness of the occasion. She strutted her signature Clydesdale clomp down the runway three times. First in an orange and white striped dress with gladiator sandals, then in a white halter number with a black bikini worn underneath, and finally in jeans and a cropped tank (that read “the best is yet to come” on the back), with all of her fellow model friends surrounding her. She received a standing ovation from the crowd, and she certainly seemed grateful for the opportunity. With her eyes brimming with tears, she clasped her hands together in a sign of gratitude.
Of course this is not the last that we’ll see of Mrs. Tom Brady (ps - her husband was sitting front row of course). The mom and mogul has big plans to expand as an entrepreneur—she already has a line of flip-flops and lingerie—and currently is the face of Chanel (lensed by Karl Lagerfeld). “I am grateful that at 14, I was given the opportunity to start this journey,”she wrote early Wednesday on Instagram with a photo of her teenage self. “Today after 20 years in the industry, it is a privilege to be doing my last fashion show by choice and yet still be working in other facets of the business.”
We can’t wait to see what this superwoman does next.
