Gisele Bündchen: Princess Diana's rival for the largest number of appearances on a magazine cover,

Gisele Bündchen top model

The Brazilian supermodel Gisele Caroline Nonnenmacher Bündchen was born on 20 July 1980 in the Brazilian town of Tres de Maio to Vania Nonnenmacher, a bank clerk pensioner, and Valdir Bundchen, a university teacher. She grew up in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, with her five sisters: Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Rafaela, and Patricia, who is Gisele’s twin and younger than her by only five minutes. The region in Southern Brazil where Gisele is from has a large population of Brazilians of German descent. Gisele herself is of distant German descent on both her maternal and paternal sides: she had great-great grandparents who came to Brazil from Germany, and she maintains that she belongs to the sixth generation of her family in Brazil. She was raised as a Roman Catholic, speaking Portuguese as her first language and English as her second, though she learnt some German in school but admits to unfortunately forgetting most of it.
She wanted to be a professional volleyball player and supposedly toyed with the idea of pursuing it by playing for the Brazilian national team. In 1993, though, at just 13, she and two of her sisters were encouraged by their mother to enroll in a modeling course. The next year, the 14-year-old was discovered in a shopping mall by a modeling agency and was later selected for the national Elite Look of the Year contest, where she came in second place. She went on to be placed fourth in the world contest, in Spain, and moved to New York City in 1996 to debut her modeling career at Fashion Week.
                                                                                                               
Gisele really burst into the fashion arena in 1990s and her debut on the cover on the July 1999 issue of Vogue was supposedly seen as “The Return of the Sexy Model”. The accompanying editorial suggested that her success heralded an end to the ‘heroin chic’ image of models that had pervaded the catwalks of the 1990s. She won the joint VH1-Vogue award for Model of the Year in 1999 and a cover on the January 2000 issue of Vogue allowed her the rare achievement of three consecutive Vogue covers. She has since graced the covers of numerous publications multiple times, including ELLE, Vogue, Esquire and Marie Claire. Moreover, she has also been seen in publications that reach a broader platform outside of fashion and glamour, including Time and Newsweek. Gisele frequently works with famous photographers such as Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz and Karl Lagerfeld and rivals the late Princess Diana for the largest number of magazine cover features in the world.

Gisele has multiple endorsements which keep her modeling career thriving.she graced the covers of magazines worldwide,She is also the face of numerous high fashion advertising campaigns such as Christian Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Louis Vuitton and Victoria’s Secret, to name a few. She recently finished her contract with Victoria’s Secret but chose not to renew it. Gisele insisted that this was because she wanted to move onto other things, and was not a matter of payment disagreements. Other business ventures include Gisele’s own line of flip-flops, Ipanema Gisele Bündchen, which can sell for as much as $230 for one pair. The model also owns the Palladium Executive, a hotel in Southern Brazil. Forbes magazine names her as the world’s top earning model in the World’s Top Earning 15 Supermodels list in 2007.
Numerous controversies surrounding her and her career have delighted the press who are consistently interested in this breathtaking supermodel.It is not just Gisele’s stunning face that people are interested in, but her personal life too. In 2002 the model was made the target for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) anti-fur protestors, when she was signed to be the new face of Blackglama, a trademark of a fur farming cooperative. At the Victoria’s Secret annual fashion show, four women rushed the stage with placards that read: ‘Gisele: Fur Scum’ along with the PETA logo. She tried to ignore the protestors while security guards rushed to control them. Gisele later told CNN that the protest was unnecessary as the show only featured faux fur and that she was one of the biggest animal lovers in the world. Despite her claims that the interruption was unwarranted, she later admitted that it was a poor decision on her part and that she no longer wears fur. Curiously, though, she was later pictured on the cover of a 2005 issue of Chinese Vogue wearing fox fur.

Gisele encountered another controversy when she appeared on the Annie Leibovitz-shot cover of the April 2008 issue of Vogue with LeBron James. The basketball superstar was the first black man to feature on the front of Vogue, but the cover was immediately criticised for conveying James in a light they deemed as racist, as he and Gisele had been positioned in a pose reminiscent of the famous movie poster for King Kong, where King Kong is carrying Fay Wray. Further criticism arose when one website compared it to the World War I propaganda recruitment poster entitled ‘Destroy This Mad Brute’, though all allegations of a racist depiction have been dismissed by the magazine officials.
                                                                           

Gisele dated actor Leonardo DiCaprio for five years, during which time they featured on numerous magazines’ ‘most beautiful couple’ lists. They broke up briefly in 2002, only to reunite until a final break-up in 2005. Together the couple had bought a dog, Jango, and now share custody over the pet as if it were a child. Gisele has remained close to Leonardo’s family, particularly his mother, much to the delight of the tabloids, which see this as an indication that the actor’s family still want to see the two together. Leonardo DiCaprio later began dating Israeli model Bar Refaeli, who, at the beginning of their relationship, was depicted as a Gisele look-a-like by the press.

Gisele has been dating Tom Brady, the all-star quarterback for the New England Patriots American football team, since just before Christmas 2006. One US newspaper reported that the Brazilian supermodel was spotted waiting for Brady outside of the Patriots’ locker room after a game in early January, 2007. The relationship became bigger news after it was revealed that Brady had ended a three-year romance with actress Bridget Moynahan – best known for her role on Six Degrees and as Mr. Big’s glamorous wife on 'Sex and the City' – around the time that she became pregnant with their child, Brady Thomas. Bündchen and Brady spend most of their time at their home in Back Bay, Boston, and continue to lead a relatively low key lifestyle together.
Gisele married Brady in a small, Catholic ceremony in California on 26 February 2009. They later renewed their vows in front of friends and family, including Tom’s son Jack, at a larger event in Costa Rica, in April of the same year. In June, the happy couple announced that they were expecting their first child, after speculation had arisen over Gisele’s growing figure on the catwalk. Brady said of her pregnancy: “The women are the ones who have to do the work, we just have to be there to support them and so it’ll be nice to do that.”
After giving birth to Benjamin Rein in December, Gisele soon gained even more tabloid notoriety for regaining her pre-pregnancy figure so quickly, as well as announcing in a Vogue interview that the only pain medication she used throughout the birth was “meditation”. In the same interview she spoke of her post-baby body, saying: “I think its muscle memory. I did kung fu up until two weeks before Benjamin was born and yoga three days a week. I was mindful about what I ate, and I gained only 30 pounds.”

Her career has not faltered, and in 2010 she made Vogue’s best-dressed-of-the-decade list, and has continued to grace the covers of the top fashion magazines. More recently she has been embroiled in a sexism row over her appearance in the television commercial for Brazilian lingerie brand Hope. The advert suggests that their underwear makes it easier to tell your partner you have done wrong, for example by crashing his car, if you are wearing only underwear. Brazilian government officials said: “The campaign promotes the misguided stereotype of a woman as a sexual object of her husband and ignores the major advances we have achieved in deconstructing sexist practices and thinking.

AMBER ROSE EXPECTING HER FIRST CHILD WITH WIZ KHALIFA.

AMBER ROSE


Amber Levonchuck who was nick named Amber Rose was born oct 21 1983 is an American model, actress, singer and socialite best known for having a long-time relationship with Kanye West. Amber's CV


includes a Louis Vuitton print advertisement, walking the runway for Celestino at New York Fashion Week and starring in music videos of Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Mary Mary, Nicki Minaj and Fabulous. Since 2011 she is the spokesmodel for Smirnoff's new flavors Whipped and Fluffed. In January 2012 Amber Rose has released her debut single "Fame" featuring her current boyfriend Wiz Khalifa





Wiz Khalifa's model fiancee Amber Rose has announced she is expecting her first child!!!!!!!!!
"Amber and Wiz unexpectedly got pregnant, but they're really happy to be starting a family together."
Just because she is really happy doesn't mean she isn't a bit nervous about this next step in her life.
"Amber's already had to make some big lifestyle changes, like not smoking cigarettes anymore. As a model she's used to having a thin waist, so this is going to be an adjustment for her."
Amber is reportedly due to deliver in January, and the couple may schedule their wedding earlier than expected and have the ceremony in October.

ADRIANA LIMA ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FACES OF VICTORIA'S SECRET

ADRIANA LIMA THE BEAUTIFUL FACE.


Adriana Lima is largely recognized Brazilian supermodel and one of the beautiful faces of Victoria's Secret.

Lima was born in 1982 in Salvador, Brazil, and has a mix of French, Portuguese, Native American and Caribbean roots.




Lima the 5'10" model was discovered at a mall when she was just 13 years old. Two years later she received a first place award in a "Ford Supermodel of Brazil" model search. In 1996 she finished second place in a "Ford Supermodel of the World" contest.

Lima decided to advance her career by moving to New York City and signing on with Elite Model Management.

She appeared in international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire magazines in 1997-98 and did some runway work.

But her big break occurred when she was featured in her underwear in a billboard for Vassarette in Times Square. She then became a Guess? model and graced the covers of Harper's Bazaar and Elle.

Lima's foray into Victoria's Secret began with runway work in 2000. She was also the show opener for the 2003 fashion show.

In her spare time, the supermodel focuses on the Caminos Da Luz orphanage in Bahia, her native hometown in Brazil.

To stay fit, Lima practices Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines dance, music, and choreographed fighting.

TOP FASHION MODEL "NAOMI CAMPBEL"

BIOGRAPHY OF NAOMI CAMPBEL

Naomi Campbel, Supermodel and actress was born May 22, 1970, in London, England. The daughter of a Jamaican-born dancer and unnamed father,she attended Dunraven School and the London Academy for Performing Arts as a youngster.She studied at Italia Conti Academy stage school and appeared in music videos for Bob Marley and Culture Club before signing with Synchro modeling agency at age 15.


Naomi Campbell was the first black woman to appear on the covers of French and British Vogue and the first black model to appear on the cover of Time.


While the exquisitely exotic leggy supermodel began her career on the catwalk, she quickly segued to high-profile advertising campaigns for such fashion icons as Ralph Lauren and Francois Nars. Naomi Campbell has also posed for more erotic fare, including Playboy magazine and Madonna's book Sex.

In addition,she has pursued acting and music careers, the latter of which has been particularly successful in Japan. Her singing career peaked with the hit "Love and Tears." Though her debut album Baby Woman sold over 1 million copies, it was a critical flop.

Campbell has appeared in several music videos and films, including Cool As Ice and Miami Rhapsody. She is the co-author of the novel Swan and has published a self-titled photo book. An ambitious businesswoman, Naomi Campbell has created two spin-off companies, NC Connect and a perfume line.

In 2002, Naomi Campbell was involved in a high-profile lawsuit with London's Daily Mirror over the publishing of photos of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. After several appeals, the court ruled in Campbell's favor.

With a reputation for a quick temper, Campbell has been arrested and sued for committing acts of physical violence and verbal abuse. In June 2008, she pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers during an "air rage" disturbance on a plane at London's Heathrow airport. In January 2007, Campbell pleaded guilty to misdemeanor "reckless assault" for throwing her cell phone at her maid in a dispute over a missing pair of jeans. She spent five days mopping floors at a New York City warehouse, covered the maid's medical expenses and was ordered to attend a two-day anger-management program.

In 2000, she pleaded guilty to a similar attack on an employee in Canada. Her assistant claimed Campbell threw a mobile phone at her and threatened to throw her out of a moving car. Campbell paid the assistant an undisclosed sum and agreed to attend anger management"classes.

Campbell has been linked with such high-profile love interests as Mike Tyson, Robert De Niro, Usher and Flavio Briatore. She is promoting the welfare of children in Africa and has worked with Nelson Mandela since 1997.

Industry Seminar Announced for Gaborone Fashion Week 2012

Industry Seminar Announced for Gaborone Fashion Week 2012.


The exchange, which is the first of its kind, will be a one-day seminar on August 9th at Boipuso Hall for exhibitors who will be showcasing at the main exhibition during Gaborone Fashion Week. The line-up of speakers for the event includes some of the fashion world’s influential tastemakers from varied disciplines within the fashion industry. The speakers include Oroma Elewa editor of Pop’ Africana, a New York City based bi-annual fashion and art publication dedicated to delivering a rejuvenated image of Africans. Nigerian-born Elewa brings the vibrant cultures and styles of Africa to an international audience.

Also sharing the podium on the day is Arieta Mujay, a seasoned international stylist. Mujay will be at GFW to oversee the overall look and the styling of the shows. She is also the public relations manager for River Island, a British high street fashion brand that has stores around the world. She has worked in the fashion industry for many years and brings her wealth of experience to the event. Speaking about her involvement with GFW this year Mujay said, “It’s time the world sat up and paid attention. African people are very creative and we have never really had a platform to showcase this creativity, but this changed over the last few years. As a result, a lot of talented people now have the opportunity to show the world what they can do. I am just so proud to be part of the movement.






The workshops are designed to give exhibitors an opportunity to learn how to market their designs, merchandise and how to create fashion designs that are sellable. According to the organizer, Koketso Chiepe, the workshops should be especially useful to fashion designers and jewelry makers who are producing locally. “Often when designers create clothes for a fashion show they don’t focus on what happens to the collection they have tirelessly put together after the show. A collection is showing your potential buyers what you’re selling this year. There needs to be a plan to produce these collections and to be able to make money from them. For traditional jewelry makers we want to emphasize quality and creating pieces that are trendy. They should begin thinking about their pieces as part of an outfit to make them relevant. These are just some of the things we want to bring to the discussion,” said Chiepe.

Other important themes to be discussed on the day include the use of media to build a brand and how to use social media to get more exposure for budding designers and labels. The seminar is open only to exhibitors and will run from 0900 hours to 1200 hours. For information on how to become an exhibitor contact Tlamo or Tebatso at tkgakge@gazettebw.com or call 3912833.

Fashion! Fashion!! Fashion!!!

BRYAN IKENNA OKWARA 

                                 Sexy Bryan


Hot, sizzling and more-hot are just a few words to describe Bryan Okwara, the first ever winner of the Mr. Nigeria pageant in 2007. As a model, Bryan has graced the catwalk of stages across Africa and America and has served as ambassadors for brands such as Audi, Guiness, Knorr and Globacom. He made it to the semi-final stage at the Mr. World pageant in 2007 and won the award for Most Outstanding African Male Model at the Nigerian Models Achievers Awards 2010 and Model of the Year at the Mode Men Awards 2011. His acute dancing skills were brought to the fore as a contestant in the Reality TV Show, Celebrity Takes 2 and more recently, he has graced our TV screens with movie roles in “Heart To Heart”, “I’ll Take My Chances” and yet to be released “Weekend Getaway”, “True Citizens” and “Awakening”. The 6 feet 1” model with well-chiseled abs and an attractive face is a favourite for magazine covers and has graced the covers of magazines such as WOW, Bloke, Shakara and Greenland.

Five years after winning the title as Mr. Nigeria, Bryan Okwara is still being called “Mr. Nigeria”. At the E-center in Lagos where we meet for the interview, everyone still calls him that. He is friendly, greeting the security guards, waiters and shop attendants who all seem to be familiar with him. “Silverbird is my home”, he says about the organizers of the Mr. Nigeria pageant whose office is just beside the E-center. We sit down to chat at Koko Lounge which is quiet in the morning and I had an interesting time getting to know Bryan behind the glam of lights and cameras.





















             The “Bryan of All Trades”

Tell me about your journey across your different careers – TV presenting, modeling, acting…
I originally started out as a model, and coming from back then, it wasn’t anything to look forward to. And then, I went in to NIGEZIE and started working as a TV presenter for a couple of years before I went in for Mr. Nigeria pageant. Luckily I won and then moved on from there. For someone who is multi-talented, you get to a point in life where you ask yourself that “Are you going to die with all these talent, why don’t you just explore” so I came out and here I am.

You’re quite famous for TV presenting, modeling, dancing and acting. Which one do you feel more comfortable with?
Surprisingly you haven’t mentioned it. I have a passion for singing. If you hear me in the bathroom, you’d think I was Michael Jackson. My manager is pushing me to go to the studio but I haven’t done anything yet. I’d love to sing R&B.

So you’re still just a bathroom singer (pun intended)
Honestly, I really love singing.




The Nigerian modeling industry is more saturated now than when you started out with a lot of new models and new faces. How do you remain relevant as a model now that you have more people to compete with?
You have to be very consistent and hardworking. You’re not getting any younger, any fitter, any faster so you have to train yourself. But with us experienced models, we’ve been there and we know what the clients want so it gives us a little bit of an edge over the new models.

Mr. Nigeria

You entered for the Mr. Nigeria Pageant during its maiden edition which was a time when male pageants weren’t as popular as they are now in Nigeria. What made you take that decision?
Initially, I didn’t want to go for it because I thought I wasn’t cut out for it. The image I had of a Mr. Nigeria was someone who could speak all the Nigerian languages, someone who was very Nigerian in his ways, had tribal marks and stuff like that. But a lot of people advised me to go for it. I went for it and saw that it was actually bigger than what people perceived. They take someone who is an all-rounder. I won the competition not by myself, but because a lot of people brought out things in me that I really didn’t know that I had.


Bryan with some of his award 
What was your experience like during your reign as Mr. Nigeria?
It was amazing. I won Mr. Nigeria in 2007 and people still call me Mr. Nigeria until tomorrow. I think I made a great impression on people but I really don’t know what it is. Going for Mr. World was also a great experience for me.

Getting On to the Big Screen
How did you get your first movie role?
My first movie was shot in South Africa called Heart To Heart. A lot of people don’t know that. It was directed by Mr Remi, the CEO of Africa Awake in 2008. He got a group of people, gave me a crash course and handed me my first script. It was a really good story but acting is very rigorous. I did my very best. It was later when I came back to Nigeria that I was casted for “I’ll Take My Chances”. They called me and offered me this really huge role. Desmond actually took time off to coach me. I spent four hours every day for two weeks learning a dance routine. It’s an accomplishment that I was happy to be part of.

You had a lead role starring alongside Ini Edo in “I’ll Take My Chances”. What was it like working with her?
It was a really great experience. Ini is a five star actress. If you are acting alongside Ini, you just have to be good because if you are not, her reaction to you would make you sit up. She is the kind of person that will be laughing with you one minute and when they say “action”, she is another person. Working with her at an early stage of my acting career has been a blessing because I got a lot of grounding with her.


Bryan grace the cover page of WOW Magazine

What informs the choice of movies you agree to be cast in?
If the script has a very great story line and I can see myself being that character, I’ll do it. If I don’t like the story, it would show in my acting because throughout the movie, I would be forcing myself to be that character and I won’t do that.

A Peek into the world of Bryan
I doubt that you studied acting in school. What course did you study?
I studied International Relations part-time at the Lagos State University because I was working at Nigezie at that time.

When you were younger, what did you dream of becoming in future?
I always wanted to recycle. I wanted to own a company where I could recycle stuff like bottle, plastic, paper. When I was little and anything spoils in the house, I take it and I keep it; so if you were looking for anything that was broken or spoilt, I had it. I always thought I could bring them back to life.

Where did you grow up and what is your family like?
I grew up mostly in Satelite Town, Lagos, but I spent a few years in America when I was a teenager. Most of my family don’t live here, they live abroad. I have two sisters and four brothers – the famous seven, seven lucky kids. I lost my Mum in 2003. The rest of us keep in touch. Now my siblings are everywhere- America, Paris, Turkey, Bulgaria, South Africa, and Dubai.

What is your definition of a beautiful woman?
A woman who is comfortable in whatever she sees herself in. A woman who exudes confidence whether she’s slim, fat, not attractive; a woman who is not oppressed easily.


 And what is her beautiful name?
Her name is Bunmi Ademokoya.

Are there any plans of you taking your relationship with her to the next level?
We’ve been dating for over three years. There is no point being in a relationship with someone you are not committed to. We are committed to each other and we are just going to give it all we can.

You have a physique that most guys would envy. What do you do to keep fit?
When I was in South Africa, the facilities to work out were more available to me than in Nigeria. I try to work out three times a week, but I would love to do more like five times a week. I do my push-ups, sit ups, squats, sometimes I do mountain climbing and I pretty much eat right.

When was the last time you had a hair cut?
It was in late 2008. After I won Mr. Nigeria, I cut off the relaxed hair and started growing virgin hair. But I wasn’t in Nigeria so nobody saw me.

Did you just decide one day to grow your hair or was it more like an experience you later felt comfortable with?
If you are going into a career in the entertainment industry, you have to evaluate yourself and see if you are marketable, find good selling points that would make people take a second look at you. So when I was going into modeling, it was one of the discussions I had earlier with my people and they said- “give it a try”.

We are used to seeing you in your traditional corn rows. What informed your choice of your new hair style?
I make my hair at Hair Whispers Den somewhere in Lekki and the lady that runs the place is really talented, she became my personal stylist. And she looked at me and said “Bryan, you have a lot of hair, why don’t you try something else?” She said she was going to do a ‘Twist Lock’. I was skeptical but she turned my back to the mirror and started twisting my hair. At the end of the day, it came out well.


Bryan and Bunmi Ademokoya

How long have you had this style on?
About a month and a week ago.

How much do you spend on your hair every month?
Not more than N20,000

Nigerian men are now more fashionable than ever before. They are wearing colours that were formerly strictly for ladies and getting really daring with fashion. What do you think is responsible for this?
The fashion industry now is something you can’t do without; it is something that has pronounced itself. Men of before would want to keep the conventional black suits, short hair, but now we have embraced a lot and now with the way things are done now, we are getting there. We have created a really huge niche in the fashion industry and those who dare to be different have stepped up. We are now embracing it.

What is your own fashion style like? What informs your choice of dressing?
I dress to impress. Sometimes I just want to look different, sometimes presentable, sometimes I want to dress to the occasion and not look apart. There are some designers whose attention to details fits my taste. Designers like Mai Atafo, House of J’Ola, Iviano Signatures.

Tell me about your most embarrassing moment?
I went to the ATM to withdraw money and I forgot I had spent some money in my account such that it was less than what I wanted to withdraw. I met a long queue. When I was tired of standing, I sat for a while but when it was almost my turn I got up and a lady who had taken up my position and got into a mild argument with me. Eventually, I had my way and went to the machine only for me to punch in the amount I wanted to withdraw and got the message “insufficient funds”. The lady who was standing right behind me saw the screen and burst out laughing “Ha ha ha, he no even get money sef”.

What was your most romantic date?
Valentine’s Day in 2009. I was in New York with my girlfriend and while we were having dinner, I gave her a Valentine gift which she was quite happy with. But earlier, I had given the waiter a bigger and better gift to bring for her saying it was from an anonymous person. They brought it while we were eating. It was awkward at first but at the end of the day, she knew that it was from me.

First kiss
 I was 13. We didn’t know what we were doing; we were just doing what we see on TV.