Gisele Bundchen has built up quite a career over the years, earning her supermodel stripes on the runway for the biggest names in the industry and rocking the Victoria’s Secret angel wings for several shows. Now, she says she’s ready to hang up her heels and go into retirement, and she’s hinted that something big will follow.
“Automatically my body tells me if what I do is worth it, and it asked to stop. I respect my body, it’s a privilege to be able to stop,” Gisele said in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper. “I don’t see how to continue modeling on the catwalk… and stopping will leave room for other projects I have for myself.”
Bundchen will walk the runway for the last time on Wednesday for Brazilian brand Colcci, and while she hasn’t revealed exactly what she’ll be doing over the next several months, it’s been reported that she will still be involved with her Gisele Bundchen Intimates and will continue to do print modeling. She recently signed a $25 million contract with Under Armour.
“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,” she wrote on Facebook recently.
Bundchen should have no trouble doing whatever she pleases, especially if she sticks close to the fashion world. According to Forbes, Gisele has been the highest paid model in the world for the last eight years and reportedly brought home close to $47 million in 2014.
“It’s marvelous she’s leaving the runway at a moment when she’s at the height of her powers. It’s an intelligent decision,” said Dilson Stein, the talent scout who found her in 1994.