Alessandra Ambrosio was part of the deluge of Brazilian models that emerged after Gisele Bündchen opened the floodgates. One of the star models of that group, of which fellow Victoria's Secret/Guess? Model (and best friend) Ana Beatriz Barros is a member, the 5 ft 9 in, light brown-haired Ambrosio accumulated quite a career in the late 1990's into the next century. Ambrosio was born in Erexim, a small town in the south. As an early teen, she enrolled in a modeling class and subsequently was entered in the Elite modeling agency's 1996 Look of the Year competition. Though she did not win, she was offered an Elite contract one year after.