Michelle
Alves
By Ines
Mendoza
Of the group of beautiful Brazilian
supermodels that my partner fantasies about daily, Michelle Alves
(pron: Al-vezz) is a welcome addition to the imaginary world of women
who pose a threat to my somewhat stable relationship.
Statuesque,
graceful and quite simply stunning, Michelle is a classic beauty,
through and through, and there's no one else's name I'd prefer
my man to yell out in the heat of passion.
Having
said that, if he ever did, he may never live to see the next
day.
Born on September 19, 1978, in
Londrina, Brazil, Michelle Alves grew up amidst a sea of successful
academics -- her father was an engineer; her mother a lawyer. With
such opulent parentage, Alves was taught that school came
first and that her love of WWI regalia would have to wait until after
she'd attended Londrina State University.
Alves
studied civil engineering, not an easy course by any means, and was
considered one of her class's top students: the tall green-eyed
brunette and self confessed "nerd" consistently achieved top
marks.
Despite a promising future in
engineering, Alves was not convinced university was for her, saying
"Although I won top awards in my class at the university, I didn't want
to be there. I wanted to travel and make my own money while I was still
young."
And it wasn't long before model talent
scouts told Alves that she had been blessed with the right aesthetic
to make it in the fashion world. And you know what? She took
the opportunity, partly because she wanted to be a model, and partly
because it would satisfy her dream moving to Sao Paulo (which was in
the grip of gangster-related riots that killed hundreds, mostly police,
in May '06, just for the record).
Fluent in
Portuguese, Italian, French and English, Michelle was a perfect
candidate for the global travel associated with modeling - and was
quick to cement her place in the South American modeling scene, well on
her way to following in the footsteps of fellow Brazilian models Adriana Lima,
Ana
Beatriz Barros,
and Gisele
Bundchen, to whom she has a passing resemblance, don't you
think..?
Michelle Alves' visage bombarded the United
States of America in early 2002. And in a big way.
Within
a year she had appeared in Elle, Glamour and Vogue magazine several
times over and then filled one of 16 highly sought-after
remaining spots at the 2002 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which
happens to be one of the most watched television events in the world. Within weeks of the the taping, Michelle signed on as an official
Victoria's Secret model, joining some of the biggest names in the
biz and solidifying her standing as a successful model in
America - not to mention within my partner's brain.
In
just 12 month's time time, Michelle Alves had gone from being a little
known magazine model to one of the industry's most recognizable faces,
and in 2003, Michelle appeared in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue,
a job she repeated in 2005. She has also strolled the runways for
Versace, John Galliano and Stella McCartney to name but a few and
became the coveted spokesmodel for Valentino and Christian Dior.
And
what of love? Well, it seems her frequent public modeling appearances
led her to meet Maverick Records CEO Guy Oseary, the gratuitously rich
head of Madonna's music label. The two became an item with their
frequent public outings making for quality tabloid fodder.
A
person with brains is intriguing to say the least, and when
combined with great physical assets, such as in Alves' case, it can be
difficult to resist. I think it's fair to say that
a girl with beauty and brains drives everyone wild: enter
Michelle Alves, a gorgeous, worldly-wise model whose brain power is
almost as developed as her looks.
God help
the rest of us, but as Michelle - in her near-infinite wisdom - would
say "If I was to give a tip to any girl starting out [modeling] it
would be to not compare yourself to anyone else. Once you start
comparing, you are always going to think someone else looks better than
you." Sound advice from a dead set legend of the catwalk.
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