Gisele Bündchen recalls booking first Vogue cover at 18 during ‘heroin chic’ era: ‘Return of the curve’

Gisele Bündchen is taking a trip down memory lane.

In a new video for Vogue released on Tuesday, the supermodel reminisced on her first cover of the American version of the fashion glossy as well as her decades-long career at the top of the heap.

Inside her Miami ranch, the “Nourish” author, 43, showed off her treasured copy of the July 1999 cover that helped to launch her into A-list status.

“This is very special to me because it was my first American Vogue cover,” the mom of two said with a smile. “I was 18 when I shot it,” Bündchen continued, “it was a very special day.”

The fashion star described going to New York to meet acclaimed photographer Steven Meisel to “try” to shoot a Vogue cover: “You know, it wasn’t a guarantee,” she said.

“The biggest thing you can do as a model, you know, is to be on an American Vogue cover,” the model continued. “So this was the beginning of everything.”

Bündchen also reflected on the aesthetics of the time and how it impacted the importance of this cover for her.

“It was the time of the heroin chic, so it was a very important moment, because this was the cover,” the model said, holding up the issue to the camera, “and it was ‘the return of the sexy model,’ which, I never considered myself sexy, but I was very happy that they chose me to represent this moment.”

Flipping to the inside of the issue, Bündchen showed a photo that pointed to a change the fashion industry was taking regarding body representation coming into the 21st century.

“And then I did this picture with Irving Penn and it was a nude,” Bündchen explained. “This was the picture: ‘the return of the curve.’”

“It was kind of a beginning of a new era in fashion, and I was just so lucky that I guess I was at the right place at the right time, because I was not working very much on the heroin chic era, let’s put it that way,” she said.

Continuing to gush over her first big break, the model added a sweet sentiment.

“By the way, it came out on my birthday in July 1999. I turned 19 when it came out,” Bündchen said. “So what a big present!”

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She’s had plenty to celebrate in the 25 years that have succeeded, covering all manner of Vogue magazines in different countries as well as the Anna Wintour-backed American version.

The video takes viewers through the grounds of Bündchen’s Miami ranch, where she raises a horse, a dog, and a cat. Among her other objects of affection include her volleyball net, peace and calming oil and more.

Bündchen shares her children Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 with ex-husband Tom Brady and chatted tons about her relationship with them.

“The most important thing for me is just to create a comfortable space where the kids can roam around and the animals can roam around and we can feel this connection to nature and to animals,” the supermodel reflected.