Gisele Bundchen is a world-renowned model, but there have also been one or two dark moments in her career. One of her jobs on the catwalk left her deeply disturbed and traumatized.

She is Brazilian and when she started her modeling career she hardly spoke a word of English. This is what Gisele Bundchen tells in an interview with British “Vogue”. Due to this language hurdle, she had to fulfill an emotionally difficult job in the early years of her career, which took a lasting effect on her.

In 1998, when Gisele Bundchen was 18, she made her runway debut at London Fashion Week for designer Alexander McQueen. A great opportunity for the young woman, who had attended countless castings at the time and was always rejected. “I didn’t speak English, it was my first fashion week in London, I did 42 auditions. I remember going to all those auditions and no one even looked at my model book because it was the ‘heroin’ era Chics’ and I obviously didn’t look like it at all,” she recalls.

Designer Alexander McQueen gave the 18-year-old a chance, but the moment wasn’t just nice for Bundchen. In a video for “Vogue” she also talks about the tears she cried at the time. “It was one of the most traumatizing moments of my life,” says the model, adding, “I didn’t have a fitting, so when I showed up at the show I was like, ‘So what am I wearing?’ I could say a few words in English, but I didn’t understand half of the things, so I just pretended to get it. Actually, I had no idea.”

Gisele Bundchen had to walk the catwalk almost naked

For her runway appearance at Fashion Week at the time, silver panties and a top that consisted only of silver threads were intended. The top bared her entire chest. There was also a black wig for the Brazilian and feathers for eyelashes. Bummel describes the moment she saw her outfit at the time: “I was like, ‘Is it a t-shirt or something?’ No, that was all. So I started crying.”

But the model’s emotional outburst was so intense that the makeup artist begged her to stop crying so she wouldn’t ruin the job. Her most present thought was that only her father should never see photos of that catwalk appearance. But while Bundchen now describes that moment as traumatic for her, she also says, “All I wanted to do was leave, but, you know, it’s one of those moments that makes you stronger.”

Sources: Vogue, Daily Mail