Gisele Bündchen's Style Transformation Can't Go Unnoticed

Runway modeling may seem glamorous, but Gisele Bündchen has been outspoken about the fact that there's a dark side to the fashion industry. Earning a coveted spot in a big time fashion show is no easy feat, and models can be replaced on a whim. Because of this, Bündchen has admitted that she had to wear whatever it took to remain in the industry — or else risk losing their career. "I'm not sure if you've been on the inside of the fashion industry, but it's very fast paced and it's also very changeable," she once told Refinery29. "I remember in the first five years, you saw girls come and go. Like one season, you see a girl all the time and the next season, it's like you didn't see her anywhere."

For many years — particularly at the beginning of her career — this dynamic forced Bündchen to embrace whatever styles were pushed on her. Although she was not always comfortable with the outfits that she wore on the runway, Bündchen did her best to do as she was told. "I always thought, 'I'm just going to show up, I'm going to give 100%,'" the model admitted in the same interview. But, as she gained fame, Bündchen was able to explore her own sense of style beyond her work attire. This transition gave her the freedom to prioritize comfort, coziness, and confidence in her personal wardrobe. 

When Gisele Bündchen first started out in the fashion world, she was hardly an international modeling sensation. In actuality, she was a teenager who had fled her home in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in pursuit of a future in the big city of São Paulo. Although Bündchen was certainly dreaming big, her day-to-day life was far from glamorous. In an early interview that was later shared on Instagram, the adolescent Bündchen showed a reporter her modest abode. "This is my room," she said, ushering the journalist into a small bedroom with a bunkbed pushed into the corner. "Here [on the top bunk] sleeps one of the older girls, a friend of mine, and here [on the bottom bunk], is where I sleep." Pushed to explain why she slept on the bottom bunk, Bündchen revealed that her roommate was given first dibs "because she is older."

In this interview, Bündchen dressed much like any other teenager in the 1990s. Wearing a pair of mid-rise jeans and a simple crop top, she embraced the sort of casual wear that was trendy among most people her age. Interestingly, this would not be the only time that Bündchen wore denim before her rise to fame. Throughout the '90s, the model was frequently photographed in a jean jacket and T-shirt combination as she got ready for runway shows backstage. These outfits reveal a taste for comfort.

Just because Gisele Bündchen liked to wear jeans backstage does not mean that she was permitted to wear a lot of denim on the runway. Sadly, the model was not permitted to wear practically any fabric at all — a fact that caused her a lot of distress at the beginning of her career. In 1998, at one Alexander McQueen show, Bündchen was asked to walk the runway in an outfit that revealed so much skin that it brought her to tears. Reflecting on this memory in conversation with Globo's Pedro Bial, Bündchen recalled, "I never asked [the designer] why he put me on the runway naked. But, I started to cry, and I didn't know what to do."

Although walking away from the situation may have been the right choice on a personal level, Bündchen was scared of the professional implications of turning down the job. "If I refused to go on the runway, maybe then they would never book me again," she lamented. Ultimately, Bündchen forced herself to do the show — but only after the makeup artist drew tears on her face to hide the real ones that were cascading down her cheeks. This would hardly be the last time that Bündchen appeared on the runway in barely any clothes. In 2000, she wore a black bandeau and matching black swimsuit bottoms in a Yves Saint-Laurent runway show.

Gisele Bündchen never felt like she was being true to herself when modeling in revealing clothes, but that didn't prevent her from signing with Victoria's Secret. Despite the fact that she was uncomfortable with the prospect of modeling underwear, Bündchen understood that the company provided stability. "They were giving me a five-year guarantee and more money than I would have made since I was 14 working in fashion," she told Refinery29 in 2018. "[I figured that] I'd rather take that, because I don't know — I have seen so many girls come and go, and who can guarantee that I'm going to be here five years from now?"

Desperate to achieve financial security, Bündchen signed the contract. And, at first, she found a way to feel confident wearing so little on the runway. "For the first five years, I felt comfortable modeling in lingerie, but as time went on, I felt less and less at ease being photographed walking the runway wearing just a bikini or a thong," she wrote in her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life" (via Yahoo). From Bündchen's perspective, the untold truth of Victoria's Secret is that there are plenty of downsides of modeling for the lingerie brand. She began to long for more modest clothing and would even ask for extra layers to wear backstage. "Give me a tail, a cape, wings — please, anything to cover me up a little!" she wrote in her book.

By the time her five-year contract with Victoria's Secret approached its end, Gisele Bündchen was done with modeling underwear on stage. This was evident in 2006 when she and several other Victoria's Secret models showed off the brand's makeup in front of the cameras. Whereas the other models were clad in revealing cocktail dresses cut from shiny material, Bündchen opted for a more modest prairie dress that fell below her knees. The simple pink frock boasted white polka dots that gave off a vintage housewife vibe. The piece's slightly puffy sleeves fully covered her shoulders. Far from showing off Bundchen's skin, this dress actively shielded her body from the cameras. Perhaps, the outfit reflected what Bündchen was already privately feeling.

"I was certainly grateful for the opportunity and the financial security the company had given me, but I was at a different place in my life, and I wasn't sure I wanted to continue working there," she would later write in her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life." When asked to renew her contract with Victoria's Secret, Bündchen was initially contemplative. She ultimately decided to write "yes" on one piece of paper and "no" on another. Then, she blindly grabbed a paper and opened it. "'No' was the answer I unconsciously wanted to hear," she explained in her book. "It was also the answer my body wanted to hear." Thus, Bündchen walked away from Victoria's Secret — and 80% of her income.

To say that it was easy for Gisele Bündchen to leave her long-time brand partnership — and all the strict standards that Victoria's Secret models have to follow — would be dishonest. While venturing out on her own was the right choice for the model, she wasn't sure what she wanted her new career — and the style choices that went along with it — to look like. In 2023, Bündchen admitted that she secretly likes to hide from the limelight. "I'm a Cancer. I'm a little crab. I like my little home. You know the crab; she has a little shell. She likes to go in her shell and feel safe, that's me," the model told CBS News. 

Perhaps, as a result of this tendency, many of Bündchen's post-Victoria's Secret outfits were very low key, playing into neutral colors. In 2007, she showed up at the Met Gala wearing a simple black and white gown by Yves Saint-Laurent. The following year, she wore a floor-length nude dress with a pearly sheen – a bit bolder than her previous choice due to the low-cut halter top and cut-outs. But, Bündchen's more neutral wear didn't just extend to her gala appearances. At a professional event for Ipanema sandals in April 2008, Bündchen sported a beige bodycon dress that stretched down to her knees. The piece's scoop neck also kept things classic and simple.

By the time the 2011 Met Gala rolled around, the model's life had changed completely. Bündchen kicked some of the bad habits that had haunted her earlier in her career. "You know, drinking mocha Frappuccinos for breakfast with three cigarettes; drinking a bottle of wine at night to calm down from all the coffee I was drinking. Not sleeping and traveling and working," Bündchen told CBS News. Then in 2009, Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady made their extremely glamorous life together official by tying the knot. They had a son named Benjamin Brady and began their co-parenting journey.

As Bündchen focused on family life, she came to pursue a healthier lifestyle. She also grew into herself more. Rather than hide away in a neutral dress, the model appeared at the Met Gala in a spectacular scarlet gown reminiscent of a flamenco dancer. The piece, which had been designed by Alexander McQueen, was attention-grabbing and vibrant. According to Bündchen, the most important part of looking great is feeling healthy. "If you are not nourishing your body by eating nutritious food, if you are not exercising and oxygenating your blood and doing things that bring you joy, you are not going to feel good, and if you don't feel good you are not going to look good," she told Vogue Australia in 2020.

In 2015, Gisele Bündchen decided to make the career-changing decision to step away from the runway for good. After spending years sacrificing her health to walk the runway, Bündchen realized that it was finally time to focus on taking care of herself. In the caption of an Instagram post explaining her decision, Bündchen wrote, "I am grateful that at 14, I was given the opportunity to start this journey. 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."

Bündchen last show was for the Brazilian brand Colcci at São Paulo Fashion Week, and her outfit was beyond fitting. Back in the city where she had launched her career, Bündchen also returned to the style choices that had defined her youth. Wearing denim blue jeans and a white crop top — the same outfit that she had worn on a tour of her shared São Paulo apartment all those years ago — Bündchen had come full circle. She looked comfortable and confident in the laid-back streetwear that Colcci was famous for. And, the return to her denim origins seemed so natural that we couldn't help but celebrate this moment for her. Bündchen herself wasn't afraid to celebrate her runway end, and footage shows her wiping away joyful tears post-show. "I felt so loved," she recalled (via Globo).

At the time when Gisele Bündchen left the runway for good, she told her fans that she wanted to spend more time with her family. Bündchen and Tom Brady's son Benjamin was one of the major reasons that the model decided to take a break from the grueling business of runway modeling. She started to contemplate the change almost as soon as he was born. "I've been preparing myself for this for a while," she told Globo. "This isn't something that came out of nowhere. Ever since I became a mom, a lot of things changed. My priorities changed. They grow so fast, and you start to miss those moments that you don't want to miss." When her daughter, Vivian Brady, was born in 2012, Bündchen felt more motivated to trade the runway for family life.

Because of this, many photographs of Bündchen post-2015 show her wearing laid-back clothes. When she accompanied her then-husband Tom Brady to the 2019 Super Bowl, she wore a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of comfortable blue jeans. This classic combination hinted at Bündchen's desire to embody an easy-going style that prioritized simple elegance and a family-friendly feel. For Brady's previous Super Bowl win in 2017, she wore a chambray blouse and a pair of dark denim pants — once again demonstrating her commitment to the new look.

Once she quit the runway, Gisele Bündchen's life changed completely. Sure, the name Gisele Bündchen long invoked connotations of killer legs and dramatic runway attire, but the woman behind the big name was ready to develop her true self beyond the cameras. "They weren't hiring Gisele; they didn't even know me," Bündchen would later tell CBS News of the fashion brands she had worked with. "They just liked the way I looked and they liked the way my body looked in clothes, I guess. I've done that. I understand that. And now, I get to be me." For Bündchen, being herself means waking up at the crack of dawn and focusing on her health. And these priorities have been apparent in her wardrobe.

In 2024, Bündchen was photographed exiting a Miami, Florida gym in yoga pants and a matching black tank. She wore a black watch on her wrist and a casual green baseball cap on her head. This sporty outfit demonstrated that Bündchen was committed to developing a relationship with her body beyond being photographed. Rather than just standing as an object that displayed clothes, Bündchen wanted to use her body for athletic achievement. This goal continued into 2025 when she shared a montage of herself engaging in yoga, cycling, dance, martial arts, and wake surfing on her Instagram. The caption read, "Movement is medicine. For your heart, your muscles, and just as importantly, for your mind and soul."

In 2025, Gisele Bündchen returned to her native Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. On this trip, Bundchen demonstrated how one of the world's top models can set aside her glamorous model habits in front of the camera and, instead, embrace her roots — a decision that was reflected in her wardrobe. Photos shared on Bündchen's Instagram show that she isn't afraid to wear denim jeans and that they are, in fact, a staple in her wardrobe. However, rather than pairing these classic pants with a simple T-shirt, Bündchen chose to dress up her outfit with a white long-sleeved shirt and a patterned open-front vest. The look was both homey and elegant, revealing Bündchen's ability to blend old favorites with more mature pieces.

On the same trip, Bündchen kept her attire comfortable and functional. Never one to turn down the opportunity to stay active, the model embarked on a few hikes during which she wore yoga pants and baseball caps. This choice to dress subtly for each occasion — without appearing to outshine those around her — reinforced this idea that Bündchen has now committed to bonding with her family. Here, her style came across as natural and genuine, which is a vibe that we would like to see a lot more of in Hollywood.