Gisele Bündchen: The Life Of The Party

For Gisele Bündchen, the face of Carolina Herrera’s yet-to-be-launched 212 VIP Rose Girl, life is a never-ending party—the fragrance campaign included. Yes, it was one big, star-studded, super-rocking New York do. The supermodel spoke to us, the morning after, on life when you’re on the list. We hear you’re a super party girl... Well, I do love dancing. But at the end of the day, a party is all about who you’re bringing with you—the people you’re with. I’m not the kind of party girl who is out every night, but I do enjoy partying.

The shoot was quite a party, too… More often than not, I shoot by myself, so it’s so refreshing and so much fun to shoot with such lovely people—the 80-year-old legendary supermodel China Machado, the Brant boys (Harry and Peter Brant II, sons of ’80s supermodel Stephanie Seymour), models Brahim Zaibat, Jon Kortajarena and Marlon Teixeira, and DJ Leigh Lezark from The Misshapes. It was fun to share ideas…you turn one way for one conversation, and another way for a completely different conversation. It’s crazy. I really did have a great time. Has there ever been a moment, while working in a fashion show or shoot, where backstage suddenly turned into a party with people dancing, having a good time?

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(Laughs and becomes nostalgic) You know, John’s (Galliano’s) Dior shows used to be like that. At the end, there was always a big party. At shoots, if it gets late and everybody’s beginning to feel tired, and you’re all starting to push yourself, somebody invariably puts on loud music and it becomes a party.

Coming back to the fragrance, what do you think makes a quintessential 212 VIP ROSE girl?

The VIP ROSE girl is very chic, very confident. She’s interesting, eclectic and has inspiring friends from all walks of life, age groups, cultures. She’s worldly, she travels, she has an open view of the world. She owns it. She knows who she is.

The fragrance is festive and daring... I like it! Who doesn’t want fun and daring, It’s woody but feminine, very party. What comes to mind when you think Carolina Herrera the brand?

I think class, values, longevity, quality. I think chic. Sophisticated. Elegant. Powerful and strong, but at the same time soft.

And what’s your relationship with Carolina Herrera and her family?

Carolina (Herrera, Junior) is a very classy lady. I remember when I’d just arrived in New York City, I started at her showrooms. I was just 16, I didn’t speak a word of English, and she just made me feel very welcome. She was always so sweet: very Latin, very caring, very motherly, very loving. Mrs Herrera (Senior) is amazing! She’s held together a beautiful family, she’s built on great values and she knows what it’s all about: she goes to work, she’sadesigner, she’s very tasteful. I admire her. She’sagreat example, a great role model. She is a businesswoman, but 86 July 2014 she’s also a mother, a grandmother. She’s been able to balance those two worlds, which are very intense on their own—something I realized only when I became a mother. What Mrs Herrera has achieved takes a lot of commitment, a lot of discipline, a lot of focus, a lot of really wanting to do it all, to be able to do a good job in all of those areas.

How do you fit in with the brand? Does the brand echo your values?

Carolina and I, our values are very similar, especially in the things that are important to us: family, authenticity, integrity. When it comes to VIP, I love the idea of it not being exclusive. It’s not ‘who is’. It’s Very Interesting, Very Intriguing, Very Inspiring People... CH 212 VIP ROSE launches in September 2014.

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