Alessandra Corine Ambrósio (born April 11, 1981) is a Brazilian model. Her last name is spelled Ambrósio, but the diacritic mark is omitted in her modeling work. It is often spelt ‘Ambrosia’ in English for the purpose of creating a pun. She was described by Tyra Banks as “The future of the modeling world”. She is best known for her work with Victoria’s Secret and was chosen as their first spokesmodel for Victoria’s Secret PINK line. She is currently one of Victoria’s Secret Angel and the face for the UK company Next. Aside from modeling work, she represents as the National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Ambrosio was also selected by AskMen.com as Number 2 out of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women for 2008.

Early life

Ambrosio was born in a small town of Erechim, Brazil on April 11, 1981 to petrol station-owner parents. She is of Italian and Polish descent. She was just eight years old when she decided she wanted to be a model, after seeing a picture of top covergirl Karen Mulder in a magazine. “I wanted to be like her,” she recalls. However, she felt insecure about her appearance, particularly of her large, obvious ears. So at 11, she had cosmetic surgery done to get her ears pinned back. She had complications from the surgery for the two years following. In 2006 on The Tyra Banks Show, she said that the surgery had been a bad experience for her and that she was discouraged from having plastic surgery again. She has a sister named Aline Ambrosio, and a cousin named Samantha, who also models.

Modeling career

When Ambrosio was 12 years old, she enrolled in modeling classes then, began modeling for Dilson Stein at age 15. Winning Brazil’s Elite Model Look started her modeling career. Her first big modeling job was the cover of the Brazilian Elle magazine. Elite passed along some of her Polaroids to Guess which led her to do the Millennium GUESS? campaign along with her friend and fellow Brazilian supermodel Ana Beatriz Barros. She has since been in huge demand, working with big-name brands including Revlon, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Rolex, Oscar de la Renta, Gucci, Escada, Rocco Barocco, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, as well as the famed Pirelli Calendar. As for fashion shows, she has walked the catwalks for designers such as Laura Biagiotti, Christian Lacroix, Byblos, Fendi, Issey Miyake, Kenzo, Christian Dior, Nicole Miller, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Vivienne Westwood, Oscar de la Renta, among others. She appeared in over 50 international magazine covers such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Ocean Drive, Vogue and the only model to appear on the cover of Glamour in the United States in 2006.

In 2004, Ambrosio launched her line of swimwear called Alessandra Ambrosio by Sais, a division of Rosa Chá. It sold 10,000 units in only its first month on the market.

Her best knowns collaboration is with American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret. She appeared on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for the first time in 2000, and continues to be a participant in the subsequent shows. Her most notable walk down the runway was in 2005 wearing lingerie made entirely out of candy. In 2004, she was selected as the first spokesmodel for Victoria’s Secret PINK line. She is currently a contract ‘Angel’ and spokesmodel for Victoria’s Secret. Her ‘Angel’ status has brought her to the public’s attention being cited by the popular media as one of the world’s sexiest women. She was chosen as one of People magazine’s annual 100 Most Beautiful People in the World, in May 2007 along with fellow ‘Angels’ Ambrosio is among the world’s top-earning models.

Ambrosio is currently the face for the UK company Next. Ambrosio stars in Next’s first television campaign in 12 years. She is also signed to Storm Model Management in London.

Television appearances

Ambrosio has made several television appearances, notably a cameo as herself on HBO’s Entourage along with Izabel Goulart; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn; Late Night with Conan O’Brien; as guest judge on Project Runway season 2: Team Lingerie and The Tyra Banks Show where she was a guest twice. She appeared alongside TV personality, Regis Philbin in a worldwide commercial for Hummer H2. In 2006, she had a cameo on the box-office hit movie, Casino Royale appearing briefly as tennis girl #1.

Ambrosio guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother (episode: “The Yips”) on November 26, 2007 with her fellow Victoria’s Secret supermodels Adriana Lima, Selita Ebanks, Marisa Miller, Miranda Kerr, and Heidi Klum.

Charity

Ambrosio is currently the National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, helping raise awareness for the unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system and raise funds for the ongoing research for its cure. Her father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in the late 1990s.

Personal life

Ambrosio loves surfing, seeing bands, drinking caipirinha and eating chocolates, which she admits to indulging in every day. She is very conscious of her figure and works out with her Brazilian trainer doing the Brazilian Butt Lift, which is a mix of samba, capoeira and aerobics.

When Ambrosio first came to New York, Gisele Bündchen lent her apartment for two weeks and Adriana Lima helped her translate English.

She described her typical week as jetsetting from one country to another for photo shoots and in between she has some phone interviews. She still visits her family in Brazil regularly and calls Erechim, Brazil her favorite place in the world and having traveled the world has not yet convinced her otherwise. These days, she shares a New York City apartment with her lawyer sister Aline.

She is best friends with Ana Beatriz Barros.

Ambrosio announced on her website that she was expecting her first child, a girl, with her boyfriend Jamie Mazur.

Biography from Wikipedia

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