“It’s never really the object, let’s be honest,” Gisele Bündchen says when asked to name her favorite things in her Miami, Florida home. “It’s something emotional.” Indeed, the supermodel treasures the artwork she was given by her children more highly than pieces from established galleries. “It has her energy. I love that,” she says of a pot made by her daughter, Vivian, before pulling out a drawing by her son Benjamin. “He is an incredible artist,” she says. “I am so proud of him.”
She only moved to this house a year and a half ago, but already, the family has settled in. There are animals everywhere, including a stable with horses—Vivian has one named Idem, while Gisele rides another named Alfie—as well as a particularly affable German Shepherd. “It feels like Brazil—I love how warm people are,” she says of Miami.
Bündchen also revisits her first American Vogue cover. “It was a very special day. We were at the park in New York, it was Steven Meisel,” she says of the July 1999 issue, which coincidentally came out the day of her 19th birthday.
It was also the end of something: heroin chic. While the ’90s saw waif-thin models on the catwalk, Bündchen marked a paradigm shift towards curves and athleticism. “It was a very important moment,” she says. “It was kind of a beginning of a new era in fashion,” she says.
She also brings Vogue into her kitchen to prepare some homemade granola. Bündchen’s cookbook, Nourish, was recently published by Clarkson Potter. It focuses on how to make healthy recipes and embrace a healthy mindset: throughout, Bündchen encourages the reader to focus on gratitude. “It’s such a gift, such an honor for us to have food and receive food,” she says. “Food is what sustains our life.”
Director: Nina Ljeti
Director of Photography: Mike Lopez
Editor: Katie Wolford
Producer: Gabrielle Reich
Assistant Camera: Jack Kelly
Gaffer: Vladimir Sosa
Audio: Larry Williams Jr.
Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg
Production Assistant: Elio Diaz
Hair Stylist: Leah Caso
Makeup Artist: Tayrll Atkins
Nail Artist: Aspasia Pappa
Production Coordinator: Ava Kashar
Production Manager: Natasha Soto-Albors
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Senior Director, Production Management: Jessica Schier
Assistant Editor: Andy Morrell
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Associate Talent Manager: Phoebe Feinberg
Director of Content, Production: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Digital Video English: Thespena Guatieri