In the (dis)course of fashion, the greatest of all

Gisele Bündchen and the historical emergence of the notion of übermodel

Abstract

This article deals with the historical emergence, at the level of discourse, of a subject who has walked the international fashion catwalks for at least three decades. In the sense of this discussion, we take as an object of analysis the discursive production around a Brazilian fashion personality known internationally, namely, Gisele Bündchen; production of meanings that wove an apotheotic place to be occupied solely and exclusively by the referred model in the History of Fashion in the West. Methodologically, we will carry out exploratory research on the internet in search of journalistic articles from the fashion universe produced on the trajectory of Gisele Bündchen as a model, and we will proceed with an analysis of the statements, discourses, and meanings around the übermodel, following the theoretical-methodological assumptions French Discourse Analysis and Michel Foucault's studies on discourses, knowledge, and subjects. In general terms, our analyzes point to the fact that the emergence of the notion of übermodel is linked to discursive and non-discursive events, to the enormous growth and expansion of the fashion industry between the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, to the expressive job opportunities and the extraordinary visibility achieved by Gisele Bündchen throughout her career as a model, something never seen in fashion until then.