michelabella

@CRFASHIONBOOK From the new issue: @giseleofficial interviews legendary supermodel Kiara Kabukuru: http://bit.ly/Z6dMDc @Bruce_Weber @Dior @IMGModels KIARA KABUKURU The supermodel emerged from a near-fatal accident with her priorities sharpened and her life affirmed Photography Bruce Weber Interview Gisele Bündchen Introduction Dominic Teja Sidhu After a meeting with Tom Ford in the late ’90s catalyzed her rise to the top of the industry, the supermodel and muse Kiara Kabukuru ruled as one of the most highly sought after faces of the decade. From the beginning, she brought forth a new kind of persona: full of wildness and mercurial intensity, pure impulse inflected with an immaculate edge. She represented an effortless convergence of grace, sex, and nature—and as a result found astounding success. Then, at the height of her career, Kiara experienced a reversal of fortune when in the spring of 2000 she was run over by an 18-wheeler—a devastating, near-death experience that set her on a trajectory of awakening. Now fully recovered and with a new depth, she is returning to fashion and setting her sights on film. Kiara was born Alice Kabukuru, in Kampala, Uganda, at a time of pronounced political unrest, to Moses Kabukuru, a 30-year-old self-made entrepreneur, and Erinah Kasabiti, a teenage country girl and one of the oldest of 16 siblings. Moses, the son of struggling cattle farmers, was impassioned about leaving the village and as a young man took a job as a janitor at Makere University, a prestigious tech school. He educated himself by listening in on classes and soon established a string of small businesses: first a rubber stamp company, then a car rental, then a dry cleaner. He ultimately acquired a lucrative printing press, called Sun- rise, and within a decade had amassed a personal wealth equivalent to one million U.S. dollars—at the time a veritable fortune—establishing himself as one of Uganda’s wealthiest men. Moses had been funding the National Resistance Movement, a rebel group he believed could one day seize power and stabilize Uganda. As the country’s political unrest escalated, the entire family, including 6-year-old Alice, was put on an active wanted-dead list. The Sunrise Press was burned to the ground, all of the family’s money was seized, and Moses’s brother Gouma was killed. The Kabukurus went from a life of war-torn Technicolor opulence to one of complete vulnerability. Moses and Erinah managed to flee the country1 by hiding in the stew- ard unit of an airplane headed for London, and then they emigrated to Los Angeles. Alice and her siblings were smuggled into Kenya and lived in hiding there for a year. Eventually, with the help of Amnesty International, a friend in the U.N., and a church in Granada Hills, the siblings escaped to London and were later reunited with their parents, in California. “We boarded the plane in the morning in Kampala and it was still day when we got to London,” says Kiara. “I remember feeling like I stepped out of color and into a black-and-white world. When we arrived in Los Angeles, the night finally fell.” It was in this turbulence of civic and personal chaos, with the imminence of mortality and the lack of solid ground or the gravity of home, that Alice was confirmed. Finding herself in the strange-land of America, teenage Alice support- ed herself with odd jobs like babysitting, braiding hair, and cleaning the local church. At 16 she was approached by photographer Bill Bodwell, who asked if she might consider modeling. For about a year Bodwell photographed her every week, sending her to all the local agencies, and she was eventually signed by Nina Blanchard. Alice was renamed Kiara, and she quickly landed a Coca-Cola commercial and a high- paying Clinique ad job that would sustain her for the next several years. At the behest of a new agent she flew to London to walk in a Gucci charity show, where she met Tom Ford. He immediately cast her as a face of Gucci with an exclusive contract. Soon after, she landed on the cover of American Vogue and was featured on the runways of John Galliano, Versace, Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen, and Chanel. She secured a coveted beauty contract with L’Oréal. And she was an editorial star, posing regularly for the foremost photographers of the time. Her success was unencumbered—until the accident that shifted the course of her life. Now, after a complete and life-affirming recovery, she speaks with friend Gisele Bündchen about the resilience of the body and the possibility of character. GISELE BŰNDCHEN We have been friends for 16 years now—like half of my life—and I remember when you had your accident and I arrived to the hospital bracing myself for the devastation. And I will never forget you sitting up in your bed smiling with all your front teeth missing, and I thought to myself only you would have this reaction. I really feel this accident became a portal for you into yourself. KK I remember feeling grateful. I really thought it was the end, and when it wasn’t I felt really lucky to be alive. It also gave me access to all the hurt I was carrying. I was surprised to find that I was upset about my childhood, which was filled with the violence of war and of the domestic variety. And you know me, I am not a big crier, but I cried for months. Maybe it’s my inquisitiveness and fascination with the psyche, but I chose to get to the bottom of it, and at times I felt so lost having dug all this stuff up. But something kept me going, I believe my faith that I would find my purpose through this mining. GB And you look amazing. You would never know you had an accident. You have no scars and I think you look better then ever. KK The physical healing was nothing short of miraculous. GB Do you feel you now know your purpose? KK I believe my purpose is forgiveness and unconditional love, to tran- scend all these traumatic events in my life. No matter what I’m doing, the question is always, How can I be unconditional love in this moment. GB And what does that mean for you? KK Well, first it starts with forgiveness and unconditional love for my- self. So when I hear a discouraging voice pop into my head, I send it love, because I believe everything wants to be loved and accepted, and the more I can do it for myself, the more I can do it in the world. Film for me is a powerful medium for this. And acting allows you to live in all these different points of view, some that may be the complete opposite of your own, and to really go there I think you must suspend judgment while you linger in character. After that you find the humanity in anyone. GB I know a few years ago you went back to Uganda to document your family history. What was it like now, as an adult? KK That trip was sensory overload for me. I learned that my great- grandfather chose to die of starvation, letting my great-grandmother and grandfather have the little food they had. This was the time of the 50-year famine. My grandfather then went on to have 16 children. I have 60 first cousins on my mom’s side, and my grandfather is 113 this year. So my great-grandfather’s sacrifice affected a lot of people. The most important thing I took away from that was how many people lived, died, struggled, sacrificed, and hustled for me to be here. I left feeling very lucky. GB What’s the name of your tribe? KK The Banyankole. It’s a nomadic tribe of cattle herders that have settled the length of the Nile. The Tutsi and Masai are also part of the original bloodline. GB Wow, so cool! One day I want to come visit you there. KK You are most welcome. You will be received by dancing villagers. It’s kind of like Brazil in that everything is always on the verge of erupting into a big dance party. Life there is like a dance. GB Sometimes it’s a like a samba, and other times like a slow dance. KK Sometimes a rave, and sometimes a two-step. Above: Kiara wears Dress and shorts DIOR http://crfashionbook...-emerged-from-a

pretty sure thats an older pic.

not officially per say, but she does have an SI debut in some way. Her Got Milk ad debuted in the 2001 SI swimsuit issue. Here is an old press release about it: http://www.thefreeli...;...-a070432856 I think I once read about her management wanting her to steer clear of her becoming too commercial and losing her prestige within the fashion world. (after she signed on as a VS angel). lingerie + bikini model would have been overkill imo.

@RealFD25 @giseleofficial thanks for the picture and thanks for being a wonderful and friendly person.Cheers from Germany!

amazing runway list thank you!

michaelkors @giseleofficial and I in 1996 holding an issue of WWD #tbt michaelkors instagram pretty sure thats 1999

Celia Kritharioti 2001 The Greek fashion scene has been enhanced with a breath of fresh air through the sexy, refined, utterly feminine couture creations shown on the catwalk by world-class top models (such as Giselle, Leticia Casta, Claudia Schiffer, Elle Mac Pherson or Karolina Kurkova)

this is new to me Gisele Bündchen for Celia Kritharioti 2001

aw thats really sad she had every vid of Gi imaginable and over 6 million video views.

giseledaily's youtube channel is terminated. I cant believe it. http://www.youtube.com/user/bavids2

Pantene Brasil 2013 HQ pantene brasil fb

She'd beat Elle MacPherson's record. Elle had 1986,87,88 covers. Kathy Ireland's 1989 is the best selling issue of all time. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mfl45ikdd/best-seller/

I never realized Gi was the only Brazilian model to have all 4 major editions of Vogue. (Raquel misses British/French, Isabeli British/Italian) http://en.wikipedia....ue_cover_models

This is a nice database of the cover models who have appeared on the 4 big Vogue's http://en.wikipedia....ue_cover_models Models or celebrities that have appeared on all four Vogue covers As of 2011, there have been 29 persons who have appeared on the covers of Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia, American Vogue and British Vogue. Amber Valletta Angela Lindvall Bridget Hall Carmen Kass Carolyn Murphy Christy Turlington Cindy Crawford Claudia Schiffer / Daria Werbowy Estelle Lefébure Frankie Rayder Gemma Ward Gisele Bündchen Isabella Rossellini Jessica Stam Karen Elson Karolína Kurková Kate Moss Lara Stone Linda Evangelista Madonna Meghan Douglas Nadja Auermann Naomi Campbell Natalia Vodianova Sasha Pivovarova Shalom Harlow Stephanie Seymour Tatjana Patitz Twiggy

I think I got those from her website and its under construction now. but if I had to go by her look I'd say F/w 1999.

yep sick that is a Muse 2010 cover outtake, and this new German Elle cover is as well. identical to this cover, just published in color instead of b&w. The new German Elle reprint is better than the original Muse cover imo, where do they keep these outtakes?!??

I always knew if she shared more she would get more followers. She went from 1.151 to 1.165 million just today on her fb. just like when she shared Vivian's birth pic she gained more than 50,000 likes in a few days.

random...Gisele will interview model Kiara Kabukuru in the upcoming CR Fashion book #2 http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/carine-en-pointe-6712483?src=twitter

The Brady Bundch bosstownsports

@danibunnii Hangin' with Gisele Bundchen like it's no biggie. Hahah #tbt http://instagram.com/p/Vc8PHZCxT-/

the little fashion heiress. :wub2:

I guess both covers? 2nd one is new to me I guess its an outtake from Muse 2010?

reprint cover Elle Germany March 2013 tfs/tigerrouge

so cute more pics: http://www.popsugar.com/First-Pictures-Giseles-Baby-Girl-Vivian-27862657

old missoni vs. new missoni.