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Gisele Bündchen
There's a strong case for calling Gisele the face of the decade. Although she technically rose to fame at the very end of the 1990s — she was Vogue/VH1 Model of the Year for 1999, and nabbed the November 1999, December 1999, and January 2000 covers of American Vogue in a rare hat-trick — Gisele has continued to dominate the entire fashion spectrum. Claudia Schiffer called her the only true modern supermodel. Gisele is a category-killer, pulling off high-fashion editorial work, commercial gigs, Victoria's Secret, and campaigns for Dior and Versace, with equal aplomb. (She is also one of the only contemporary models to have gained any kind of tabloid notoriety, which celebrity ironically makes her a more likely cover choice for fashion magazines, now that they don't put mere models on their covers.) Through every change in style, Gisele has remained on top. She goes by one name. She is the highest-earning model in the world. She has a line of sandals in her native Brazil. Her work ethic is highly praised, and an economist even made a Gisele Index to mathematically prove that companies that hire her make money. It outperformed the Dow! Other models should probably just give up now.
