During the London Olympics’ Closing Ceremony in 2012, someone made a choice to highlight British fashion and the British domination in the world of modeling. Certain British models were chosen to “walk the runway” during the ceremony: Kate Moss, David Gandy, Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn, Karen Elson, Lily Cole, Georgia May Jagger, Stella Tennant and Lily Donaldson were all featured. It was a nice moment, and I wondered if other countries would follow suit and decide to add some supermodel star-power to their ceremonies. Well, it happened. Gisele Bundchen is without question one of the biggest models of all time, and she’s considered one of Brazil’s biggest “exports.” So it didn’t surprise me that they wanted to include Gisele in some way during the opening. But I guess I didn’t expect this?
Gisele’s last catwalk, ever. A very, very long catwalk with no one else around. Walking to “The Girl From Ipanema.” This was actually a last-minute change-up for Gisele. She was always going to be part of the Opening Ceremony, but the original idea was to have Gisele “assaulted” by muggers or something. When journalists got wind of that information, changes were quickly made and this was the result – just a really long walk.
Gisele did wear a Brazilian designer, according to Vogue. She wore a dress by Alexandre Herchcovitch. The dress apparently took four months to make? Yikes. While I was slightly bewildered as to why they gave so much time away to Gisele’s catwalk, in the end I did enjoy her presence. She was super-proud of her country and it showed. Plus, she stuck around to dance like crazy and that was incredibly charming.
Super-cute. But Gisele’s Brazil-proud appearance did cause some questions. Questions like, “Huh, where’s Gisele’s husband?” Tom Brady didn’t come to Brazil. He didn’t fly down to support his wife. He stayed in America because… NFL training camp? That’s his official excuse, that he couldn’t fly out for a day or two (on a Friday/Saturday??) because of training camp. Fun fact: because Brady has decided to accept his four-game suspension, he’s not even allowed to train with his Patriots teammates. So… why didn’t he go to Rio again?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet, Getty.
If that slit were any higher we would have gotten a different show.
This!! Though it may have been a better show – I have never watched a more boring opening ceremony – actually fell asleep in between .
I thought that myself. I noticed she was walking very carefully!
Yes-boring opening ceremony. Thank goodness our team was “Estados Unidos” (close enough) in Portoguese. I hit the hay after they came into the stadium.
It was as stupid as things get. Sparked worldwide, global embarrassment.
–TheRealPinky
Agreed. Embarrassing from where we were sitting to.
London could have done the same. I mean both Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell redefined fashion for the ages. Moss with the waif look – Campbell with breaking race barriers. But I can’t conceive them walking from A to B, accompanied by songs from The Beatles or Rolling Stones as a moment for anything and certainly not for Britain.
Might as well put their faces on the notes if that were the case.
lol I’m pretty sure that the London 2012 ceremony had Kate Moss, Naomi and Jourdan Dunn though
What make sit even more cringe inducing is that Brazil is a multi racial nation. Its melting pot ethos is supposed to be its calling card, but racism is rife in every part of the country. None more so that the fashion industry where girls from Brazil South – of European stock are considered it while the black or mixed race girls are ignored and given short shrift.
Adding Adriana Lima or Raica Oliveira will at least go some way to removing the “white is right” mentality that permeates Brazil fashion.
But hey Gisele walked the length of the field and did not trip on her heels. That’s some acheivement right? “We are not worthy”. Sarc Off//
Nice things
At least they dumped the grotesque idea of having ‘Queen Gisele’ being mugged by a young boy from the slums as part of the opening ceremony narrative. And her implants looked good.
@lili – I think Amide was acknowledging that they walked but as part of a different procession of models, despite being icons in their own right. Showing British fashion is more than just ONE person or one look. Rather than it just Kate and Naomi walking from A to B for some WTF parade.
@Misti: It would have been nicer if they had included: Fernanda Tavares, Lais Ribeiro, Raica, Adriana Lima, Izabel Goulart, Ana Beatriz Ribeiro, Carol Ribeiro, etc…
However, I do not begrudge them for choosing only Gisele. She is the only Supermodel of the bunch and she was representing “the girl from Ipanema”. The real girl from Ipanema who inspired the song has light features (blond with blue eyes) and she represents Brazilian beauty too.
Correction: Ana Beatriz Bastos… Ops…
I agree, it was dumb. She can walk far in heels, good for her. What does that have to do with the Olympics?
Because the Iconic thing was the song… GIRL from Ipanema and she was that girl.. I’m sorry so many people are missing the point.
I was surprised we didn’t see the real woman that inspired the song tbh. But I expected Gisele to walk to that song once it was rumored she was doing the catwalk
Agree with AmandaDG. Plus did she really like her dres? I got vibes from interview with designer that G took control over the design. Them for a good part of the walk she manually held parts of it back? Wanting to go all DoC flash?
All she did was walk right? And she was the only model doing that? Still can’t get me head around that.
Also. Great shade in Tom not showing up. I don’t think he likes spending time south of Costa Rica, even that might be a stretch for him.
Almost as embarrassing as Burqagate.
Boring!
Agreed! What was even the point?
Embarrassing and stupid. And that dress–it was okay but it looked like it took a couple of hours to throw together.
I agree. I thought it was rather silly. It went on way too long and while I get the idea that “she” was supposed to be representing the Girl from Ipanema, I would have liked it much better if they’d showcased Astrud Gilberto who sang the song…beautifully in my humble opinion. I know many people are in awe of Gisele. I guess I’m just not that impressed by models in general. I was impressed with the fact she walked as far as she did in those heels. My feet hurt just watching it!
It was a beautiful moment I thought. She’s stunning.
Right??! I never get the criticism of her…I literally can’t take my eyes off of her when she’s stomping down that runway.
Gisele is practically Exhibit A to show you don’t need to be traditionally “pretty” to be a great model. And follower count isn’t everything!
Never been a fan but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her either. There was a glow about her that exuded pride and love of her country. The energy, the dress, the lights, the music….I’m probably reading too much in to this, but I was sucked in as well.
Yep. i know nothing about fashion and models and even I can see why she was considered the best of an era.
I feel like that every time I watch her…it’s her confidence, hair, legs…I could watch her for days, lol
…https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jfU93n6vo6M
I’m not a fan of her personality, but I will admit, I think she is stunningly beautiful. My husband says he thinks she looks like a dude. I don’t get what he’s seeing.
Agree. I like the extra weight on her as well. She really does have a stunning figure even when not rail thin.
I thought she looked amazing and her walk is one of the best since the dawn of the Supermodel.
And after all, top athletes and supermodels go together as a concept, yes? 😉
They could have replaced the original theme with Tom Brady dressed as the street waif who attacks her and carries her off to the ESPN / Boston underworld of America, thus crossing supermodels, athletes, and one of my favorite movies, Black Orpheus, which was filmed in Rio in 1959 during Carnaval, starring Breno Mallo.
This is the Olympics! Why is there a fashion show? This is an athletic competition.
Tell that to the people in the opening parade and Ralph Lauren, Roots, etc. who design their uniforms and advertise it! 🙂 (But i know what you mean. BUT this is Brazil. Beauty is a massive thing.)
It was nice. I don’t get the criticism either.
I always found her to be overrated, but what really sank it for me, and I think for most people, is her smug, arrogant, hypocritical, preachy attitude. She is like Brazil’s answer to Gwyneth Paltrow.
The list of haughty statements she has made over the years is quite extensive. My favorite, when asked if she would ever have plastic surgery? “No way (will I have surgery).” LOL!!! She already had one nose job, and possibly one boob job, when she made this very statement.
Hmm…I probably adore her because I never make it a point to “follow” celebs. Like I have no idea when she got married, don’t know the stuff she’s said, etc.,. I think it would be healthier for some people to follow suit (although this site would be in the sh!tter if so). I can’t believe people get so invested in the lives of celebs…
Amanduh,
Sorry, but I don’t live and die by every word she says, however, her comments were unavoidable, as they were plastered everywhere, on every news source including “serious” news outlets. The headlines alone, were enough.
The comment she made about breast feeding was all over the web, TV, magazines, etc.
And she posted a birthday message to him.
The Pats will be losing him for 4 weeks once the season starts. No way was Belichick giving him extra time off now. He has to get conditioned and in sync with the team now the best he can.
Exactly – and everyone knows that Brady is serious as Hell about his job. So what if he can’t play the first 4 games, he’s working right now.
I think we should note that he can’t practice with the team once the season and suspension start, he IS actively practicing with them now during pre-season.
Yup – TB is the consummate professional and there’s no way he’d skip camp under any circumstances, not to mention that he needs to suck it up and show team commitment and solidarity in the midst of his suspension.
Any insinuation that their marriage is in trouble is baloney.
They just bought another multi million dollar home in Manhattan.
They’re together; albeit having endured major bumps with the a**hole Affleck nanny gate embarrassment.
He may even have a contract clause forbidding him from taking health or safety risk during active contract time. With the health conditions being such as they are in Rio, the clause may have been invoked for business reasons. Business.
The Patriots have definitely inserted such clauses in his contract, He definitely has the Lonborg clause in his because he has commented on it. No downhill skiing for the length of his time as a Patriot. All the major Boston sports teams put the Lonborg clause in the contracts with their franchise athletes.
I recall a hockey player I once dated had a no motorcycles clause. I didn’t know it was called a Lonborg clause — I love the things I learn here! Thanks, LAK.
My son currently plays Jr high football and played on his school’s midget team for 4 years. They are pretty much not allowed to miss practice unless they are dead. Even if they are injured they are still expected to show up and be there. Football is not the type of thing you can just take a few days off from. It’s a major commitment. I would imagine that they are even more strict about that at the college/NFL level. The Olympics aside, there’s no way they were going to let Tom Brady miss training camp to go to Brazil and watch his wife walk a catwalk.
I liked London’s idea of featuring more than one model, like a mini-contingent. Is Gisele the only famous and/or worthy one from Brazil? At least they scrapped the “assault” idea.
Other than the too-high slit, I thought her dress was lovely.
She is not the only one, but she is the most famous one. Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio, for an example, are famous, but Gisele is iconic. The last supermodel. And it was her last runway.
And Isabeli Fontana!!! Sooooo stunning and such a great model.
I respect that her ‘lasts” of her runway career have been in Brazil – last actual runway turn for a Brazilian brand, and I won’t hold it against her for coming out of retirement this time since it’s the Olympics after all.
Ambrosio was barely known when ahe fot the vs fig after Fernanda Tavares left. There are many BraZilian models from her generation. But Gi IS the last super
Model.
Alessandra, Isabeli, Adriana etc are gorgeous but none of them have the kind of range Gisele did or her mix of high-fashion and commercial work. That’s really what made her a super – high-fashion jobs back then really didn’t go for VS girls, but Gisele was the lone exception.
I knew there had to be more! Even though she’s technically the only super model, I think it would have been nice to feature more than just her, given the “team sport” aspect of the Olympics. The solo walk just seemed a bit much.
@Emsom
It absolutely would have.
With London the inclusion of other models besides the supers of Kate Moss and Naomi C was a sign of the evolution of the British fashion industry. Kate and Naomi are supremes but it did not start nor end with them. Plus the other models also helped showcase British brand names of today and yesterday. The likes of Jordan Dunn and Rosie HW walking alongside them tried to suggest Britain’s diverging faces of fashion on class, race, birth e.t.c. Multiracial Brazil electing to showcase only Gisele (just walking!!)- of European heritage – as the be all and end all sucked.
Adriana Lima’s participation was more emblematic of what the Olympic spirit is truly about.
Amide:
The entire show had countless of Black women being shown. You only care about Gisele.
If you want to be an internet warrior you should complain about how much the show almost ignored completely an entire gigantic country and Rio’s culture was there as the most relevant in the country.
I liked the idea of what London was trying, but the execution was a bit off because you had these iconic names like Kate and Naomi, well-known model-of-their-time cult faves like Stella Tennant, Karen Elson, Lily Cole and Lily Donaldson….. and then 2012’s equivalent of an instagirl chosen for very little other than a famous name – Georgia Jagger. It’s like getting one bum note in an otherwise perfect selection.
I think Gisele alone is a pretty good choice if the event organisers wanted the ultimate Brazilian supermodel. Because she is!
I agree teacakes. I wrote up in the thread after all the comments here that would have been nicer to show other Brazilian models from her generation up there. But, I do understand why they chose her. Well, Brazil does have European descents, so we should represent that too. I have African, indigenous, Portuguese and Spanish heritage and look white (dark hair and eyes). It does not make me less Brazilian. I have friends with the same heritage and they are blonde with green/blue eyes. They are as Brazilian as I am.
The idea was meh, but her catwalk is still incredible and she still looks incredible! I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
Some criticize her looks (not I!), but there’s no denying she has “it.”
This is a catwalk.
The bitches of the moment should take lesson from her.
Lol to the “bitches of the moment”. I said it before and I say it again: they need to check Gisele’s website. It is a lesson in modeling and for free!
Agreed. This was pretty in that corny shiny glossy way but i think the majority of the viewers loved it.
She was representing the girl from Ipanema who is alive and well in her 60’s.
Speaking of Brazilian icons… Ivo pitanguy, famous plastic surgeon, passed away yesterday. RIP, Pitanguy
Heard about Ivo Pitanguy.
Wondered why Gisele elected to have her eye and boob job in Paris when she could have done the plastic surgery back home in Brazil. At least she would be afforded discretion in her home country and then would not have had to hide to a Burka, the way she stupidly chose to in Paris.
I don’t know… Even Tom Cruise has been rumored to have his plastic surgeries with him.
yeah, I mean when the best is in your home, why go elsewhere?
I thought it was weird, it just lasted too long. I know by her face she was so proud to be representing her country and that’s cool. It was just so isolated from the rest of the show. It took us completely out of the moment. Maybe if there had been something else incorporated into it. We just started laughing.
She’s overrated. They should have chosen who really is the beauty of Brazilian women, actually should have chosen more than one to show the diversity of Brazilian women, not only Giselle, which is a beauty from Brazil southern.
Gisele demanded an exclusive dressing room, two security guards, didn’t want to talk to anyone. She’s so full of herself
I agree, I actually think she is loves herself way more than Brady even does!
I say it was 100% pretentious.
She’s a beauty in motion.
Doesn’t matter how famous she is — by giving the spotlight ONLY to her they are almost admitting that she is The Exception, the only successful Brazilian model — and the idea of a white woman being called The Only One in a multiracial brazilian society is making me really uncomfortable.
well, she IS the last of the supermodels, and she is the ultimate in that field just as Pele is iconic among football players.
I’d have found it far more problematic had they picked any other white model as a sole representative, or had a whole team of Euro-looking models with her at the head. Gisele alone? That I have no issues with.
You’re right, she def is the supermodel but is this a supermodel contest? The whole world is looking at Brazil right now and it’s a chance to show as much people and as much types of beauty as possible and thankfully Brazil has tons of famous models (even if they are slightly less famous than Gisele). Not to start a battle about “who’s more famous” but Adriana Lima, Isabeli Fontana and Alessandra Ambrosio also have a huge name recognition (to name a few, i suppose there are more)
As a brazillian woman, I do have a problem with her being the official representative of brazillian beauty. It also makes me cringe whenever someone says that “beautiful brazillian women are all concentrated at the south part” and apparently the model agencies agree so much with that. But hey, there’s no racism here, right?
That dress looked so basic. 4 months? Need a close-up.
I loved watching her walk. I’m shallow, what can I say?
But that was an amazing walk, even though I think she’s overrated in some aspects (her catwalk style is definetly NOT one of them).
Tommy boy refrained from joining her because Zika. He seems so prissy & timid to me.
Boring.
That walk was everything!! I love Gisele I think she is beautiful with an amazing body! She isnt the last supermodel though there are others like Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls, Chanel Iman plus others. However blame the media who keep hyping up the mediocre Kendall and Gigi.
Whatever you do Gisele, don’t drink the water
She could walked the entire ceremony and i would not get tired looking at her. Simply stunning and mesmerizing.
I thought the Brazil’s team of athletes looked overwhelmingly European, as well, which surprised me.
Probably that’s confusing since Rio presents itself as a Black city for Americans so it’s natural to be surprised.
White people are an ethnic minority in Rio.
Gisele is Brazilian.
She was there to represent her status as Super Model from Brazil and to represent her ethnic group in Brazil.
Gisele’s German roots have being in Brazil for at least SIX generations. She can’t become more Brazilian.
I was more disappointed with the presence of talentless people like Regina Case and Anitta.
I was embarassed for how much bad they were.
I have to disagree about Anitta. She is Brazilian, but if she was American she would be cherished as the ultimate American dream. She is self made. She is a dancer, a choreographer and she sings funk (I am not a fan of the genre, but I think her songs are catchy). The whole idea was to have 3 different singers from different genres coming together to play Samba. I liked it very much and she was extremely “contained” on her dancing moves, lol.
I thought that the walk was the only boring and pointless moment of the ceremony.
Was this the world debut for her new boobs and eyelids?
Stunning. The beautiful song played by the talented son (grandson?) of Tom Jobin, the beams of light representing the design of the sidewalks in Rio and THE walking.
The original “Girl from Ipanema” was a blond. They were right to chose Gisele and Gisele alone. Beautiful.
Ditto to pretty much everything you said! Quick correction: the original girl from Ipanema IS blond. After all, she is still alive, 🙂
The original girl from Ipanema was brunette when she inspired the song.
I stand corrected (twice)! Helô Pinheiro IS blond. Yes, she was a brunette, with blue eyes.
So impressed she can walk wow can’t stand her and her cheating husband
Boring.
This is an Olympic competition. Athletes have worked their entire lives to get there. And she. . . was born with good genes. It seems insulting to me that she’s showcased at the same event.
Giselle is always worth watching, but this was tooooooo loooooong. I felt that she was having to push to maintain interest.
I remember the closing of the Vancouver Olympics when Natalia Vodianova came out and took the flame and I lost my shit entirely. I really did. I’m pretty cool normally around celebrities, but I lost it. The idea of this ethereal being IN MY TOWN made me lose it. And Giselle, in Rio, is that multiplied ten times.
TBH, after watching this Lackluster Opener I went and found the 4 hours Beijing Opener, got high and proceeded to catch My LIFE