Ana Claudia Michels

By Sara Templeton

Like fellow supermodel Gisele Bündchen, Ana Claudia Michels is held in very high regard by many Brazilians, and is probably most famous for her frequent Victoria's Secret lingerie appearances.

Ana is one of Brazil's favourite daughters, and it's not surprising really, as she's conquered much of fashion world, including magazines, print and television ad campaigns and runway model shows.

The icing on the cake for Ana Claudia was when the readers of the UK version of Vogue voted her as "Queen of the Catwalk" in a poll, which says a lot coming from the Brits.

But before we get too carried away with all her career accolades, let's first look at where it all started for the brunette belle.

On July 31, 1981, Ana Claudia Michels was born in the town of Joinville, in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Top models are often groomed from a young age or compete in beauty contests and such, and despite many top models like Adriana Sklenarikova and Kim Smith rising to prominence after being seen in beauty competitions, Ana just walked in to an agency and blew away the staff with her natural beauty.

Simply put, she walked into the Mega Agency and was signed up just like that. No comps, no trials, just a signature on the dotted line, thankyou very much.

"[When] I started, did not have any idea what it was to be model," the model is quoted as saying when asked about her introduction to the fashion world.

Not long after she had signed on with the Brazilian modeling agency, Ana Claudia showed how quick she was to learn the trade (having had no prior interest nor knowledge of the fashion industry) by landing contracts for the likes of Saba, Missoni and Versace eyewear.

With a bit of help from Gisele, Ana Claudia was soon well versed in all things fashion, and had made appearances in magazines like Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and even on the cover of her native Brazilian mag, Desfile Brasil.

Without wanting to drop too many names, the stunningly beautiful Brazilian has worked on advertisements for the aforementioned Missoni and Versace eyewear, but also fashion houses such as Vizzano, Saba, Louis Vuitton, Valisere, Giorgio Armani, Valentino and Calvin Klein.

It's also no wonder that the top model has strutted down runways for hundreds of different designers, including all the big names such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Versace, Anne Sui and Giorgio Armani. She did take out Vogue UK's "Queen of the Catwalk", after all.

Ana Claudia Michels is not unaccustomed to globe trotting either, as the green-eyed supermodel has contracts with City Model Management (Paris), Fashion (Milan), Louisa Top Models (Germany), Women Model Management (New York) and she's even stayed faithful to the Mega Agency in Brazil as well.

In addition, Ana has joined many of her countrywomen as a Victoria's Secret model, a hallowed and extremely well-paid gig that only goes to the cream of the modeling crop, proving that despite an influx of Eastern and Western European models, the Brazilian's are still at the top of the tree. For now...