In an era dominated by whispered luxury and minimalist restraint, Gisele Bündchen's latest campaign for Elisabetta Franchi arrives like a perfectly timed provocation—bold, unapologetic, and impossibly glamorous.
The images, captured by Luigi & Iango in the sultry heat of Miami, present a Gisele we've never quite seen before. Gone is the sun-kissed beach goddess who defined an era. In her place: a woman transformed, her signature waves replaced by slicked-back severity, her natural radiance exchanged for vampy oxblood lips and an attitude that could cut glass.
This is fashion's answer to a question we didn't know needed asking: What happens when a supermodel decides to reinvent herself completely at 45? The answer, it seems, involves mock-crocodile leather, no pants, and enough confidence to power a small city.
The Campaign That Started Everything
The Lincoln
Continental
Moment
The hero shot—Gisele draped against a 1960s Lincoln Continental, the Miami skyline dissolving into heat waves behind her—has already become iconic. She wears Franchi's mock-croc biker jacket like armor, paired with sheer stockings and stilettos. No pants. Just pure, distilled power.
"I believe true beauty is an indomitable strength," Elisabetta Franchi tells me over the phone from Milan, her voice carrying the kind of certainty that built an empire. "When I design, I seek something that will leave an emotion and a mark. Gisele embodies this spirit."
"This isn't just fashion; it's a statement about owning your power at any age"Elisabetta Franchi
From Kate
To Gisele
The Italian house's supermodel strategy reads like a masterclass in casting. Last season belonged to Kate Moss—all insouciant cool and timeless rebellion. Now, they've pivoted to Gisele's particular brand of transformation. It's not succession; it's conversation.
With Marco Bizzarri—yes, that Marco Bizzarri, formerly of Gucci—now steering the ship as chairman and investor, Elisabetta Franchi is clearly playing a different game. This isn't about following trends; it's about setting them.
The Poolside
Provocation
Of course, there's a pool. This is Miami, after all. But Luigi & Iango's lens transforms the expected into something altogether more dangerous. Gisele, submerged to her shoulders in black water, wearing leather and crystals, channels something between Helmut Newton and contemporary defiance.
The internet's response has been swift and unanimous: "iconic," "revolutionary," "the comeback we needed." Fashion forums are ablaze with discussions about what this means for an industry that seemed content with safe choices and quiet luxury.
The Cultural
Reset
What makes this campaign revolutionary isn't just the imagery—though the imagery is, admittedly, spectacular. It's the timing. Six months postpartum, Gisele isn't trying to "bounce back" or reclaim her pre-baby body. She's creating something entirely new.
This is a woman who could rest on her laurels, who has nothing left to prove, choosing instead to burn it all down and rebuild. The slicked hair, the vampy lips, the leather-clad confidence—it's not transformation for transformation's sake. It's evolution.
In a fashion landscape that has grown perhaps too comfortable with minimalism, with "stealth wealth" and "quiet luxury," Gisele and Elisabetta Franchi have delivered something altogether more necessary: noise. Beautiful, leather-clad, unapologetic noise.
The Movement Continues
"True beauty is a wild force born from love and courage"The Elisabetta Franchi Manifesto
As I write this, the campaign has been live for less than a week. Already, the mock-croc biker jacket has a waitlist. The crystal G-string (yes, really) is being called "the new naked dress." Fashion editors are scrambling to reassess their Fall previews.
But perhaps the most telling response comes from Gisele herself, who captioned her Instagram post with characteristic understatement: "Shooting in leather in Miami summer. Now that's what I call hot."
Indeed. After years of fashion playing it safe, of luxury whispering when it could be shouting, Gisele Bündchen and Elisabetta Franchi have reminded us what fashion can be when it decides to be brave. The message is clear: boring is canceled, and the new era has a name. It's spelled G-I-S-E-L-E.
Zara Collins, Fashion Editor
Editor's Note: Sometimes fashion gives us exactly what we didn't know we needed. This is one of those times. The new Elisabetta Franchi collection is now available at select boutiques worldwide. The waitlist for that jacket? Already three months long. You've been warned.
