Fans of the golden age of supermodels, pour one out for one more fallen angel: Gisele Bündchen has announced her official retirement from the catwalk. The rumours were around for a while, but the highest-paid model in the world confirmed the quit on Instagram after making one final runway appearance at São Paulo Fashion Week in her native Brazil.
Her final catwalk appearance was for Colcci, a homegrown Brazilian label. After the show concluded, a group of models strode out onto the runway to join her, all wearing white T-shirts with her image on them – prompting a standing ovation from the crowd and prompting an emotional Bündchen to burst into tears. Aww.
After the show, she Instagrammed an image of herself as a teenager, writing: "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 was scouted by Elite at a shopping mall while on a school trip. At 14, she moved from her hometown of Horizontina in southern Brazil to pursue her modelling ambitions in São Paulo – so it makes sense that she chose to cap off her legendary runway career back where it all began 20 years ago.
But this doesn't mean you'll never see her again; the 34-year-old is still planning on pursuing print and commercial campaigns. In the last year or so, she's been in high-profile adverts for Balenciaga and Chanel.
In honour of Gisele's retirement from the runway, we've dug through the Dazed archive to bring you her first editorial for the magazine. Photographed by Liz Collins and styled by Katie Grand, it's a whirlwind tour through her range of model-perfect expressions. Enjoy.
