Izabel Goulart

São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

**Maria Izabel Goulart Dourado** (born 23 October 1984), better known as **Izabel Goulart**, is a Brazilian model, businesswoman, and fashion designer. She is best known as having been one of the Victoria's Secret Angels from 2005 to 2016 and for her work with Armani Exchange. Since 2009, Dourado has been among the highest-paid models in the world, and as of 2016 she was the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry.

Goulart has become an internationally recognized style icon and fashion designer. Following high-profile collaborations with other brands, she launched an eponymous label in 2008, and a lower-priced (diffusion) label in 2011. The Izabel Goulart label was named designer brand of the year in the UK and US in 2011. She is married to Tyler Sherman. As of September 2015, the couple's joint wealth is estimated at US$1.06 billion.

Goulart became the Executive Vice President and Global Creative Director for Kering an international luxury conglomerate that oversees multiple luxuries fashion subsidiaries in 2016. There most notable subsidiaries include Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, and Puma. She supports many charities including Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, as well as dedicating time to environmental causes. She is the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. Her husband, was designated a Messenger of Peace for the United Nations in 2017.

## Early life

Goulart was born on 23 October 1984, in São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil. She is of Italian and Portuguese descent, and has four brothers and one sister. Goulart once said, "the hardest part about being [a Victoria's Secret Angel] is I spend time away from my mom's food and away from my home with my five brothers and sister". School was a particularly rough time for Goulart, as she was made fun of for her skinny build and was called names such as "giraffe".

While shopping for groceries with her mother at age 14, a hairstylist suggested that she should become a model. She moved to the state capital, São Paulo, and started modeling, moving to France shortly afterwards to develop her career. Goulart returned to São Paulo in August 2001 (aged 17), where she joined former agency Success. Her career in the Brazilian fashion world was launched by Ney Alves, currently the director of Major Models Brazil.

## Career

### Modeling career

During Goulart's first ever fashion show appearance, she experienced a wardrobe malfunction when her top fell open. The incident made many Brazilian newspapers. She eventually put this event behind her and returned to the runway to model collections for A-list designers such as Alberta Ferretti, Bill Blass, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Isabel Marant, Givenchy, Altuzarra, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, Balmain, Jil Sander, Chanel, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Emilio Pucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Emanuel Ungaro, Loewe, Roberto Cavalli and Stella McCartney, among others. Goulart has also modeled for H&M, Express, Neiman Marcus, Missoni and DSquared².

In 2005, Goulart appeared on the covers of the April edition of *Marie Claire* France and, in December, *Vogue* Brazil. She first appeared in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2005, the year she was contracted as an Angel. She received a star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" prior to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2007. Although she is no longer an Angel, Goulart walked in the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows. In 2008, she replaced fellow Victoria's Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio as the face of A/X Armani Exchange and she was featured in three seasonal print campaigns for the label. She has shot for top photographers such as Terry Richardson, David Sims, Greg Kadel, and Vincent Peters for such publications as French and Japanese *Vogue*, *Harper's Bazaar* Spain, *L'Officiel*, *Allure* French magazine, and *Numero*. Goulart can be seen in the fall 2009 H&M campaign.

In 2010, Goulart appeared on the cover of the October issue for *GQ Mexico*, *Vogue* Brasil and appeared in a campaign for Avon. In the same year, she was voted the best international top model by the magazine *Glamour* Mexico.

In 2011, Goulart appeared in the *Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue*. She can be seen in the spring/summer 2011 campaign for Dolce and Gabbana, the Pre-Fall 2011 campaign for Givenchy, Yamamay's 10th Anniversary Collection and the Fall/Winter 2011 campaign for DKNY Jeans. The same year, she ranked number 100 in *FHM* magazine's list of the 100 Sexiest Women In The World. She also appeared on one of the four covers of Elle Brasil.

In February 2012, she was photographed by Dusan Reljin for *Vogue* Spain, and later that year by Mario Testino, again for *Vogue* Spain, in an editorial entitled "Las majas", which also featured Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes, Miranda Kerr and Isabeli Fontana. In November, she was recognised as "Fashion Personality of the Year" by the Brazilian magazine *Isto é Gente*, and she also appeared on the cover of *Glamour* Brazil in December 2012.

In February 2013 she appeared on the cover of one of the four issues of *Vogue* Brasil, together with Bette Franke, Magdalena Frackowiak, and Mirte Maas.

In mid-2013, she became the face of MAC Cosmetics Tropical Taboo range and she was photographed by Zee Nunes for the October edition of *Vogue* Brazil in an editorial entitled "Olympiada Fashion". Later that year she appeared in a campaign for Agua De Coco promoting its spring/summer 2014 beachwear collection. She also appeared on the cover of *GQ* Portugal in December 2013, after she was elected as the magazine's "International Woman of the Year" in May of that year.

In December 2017, *Forbes Magazine* named Goulart the world's highest-paid model, beating Gisele Bundchen who had held this title for the last five-years. She was ranked at number one, and ranked in US$26.2 million. She has stated she is interested in a career in acting after her modeling career. She has not appeared in any films or television series yet. She has been included on this list since 2009, and since then she has received a salary of over $9 million a year.

### Launch of fashion label

Goulart eponymous label was launched in September 2008 in a low-key presentation. By 2011, it had grown into a fixture of New York Fashion Week and a lower-priced Izabel by Izabel Goulart label was introduced. In the first quarter of 2011-12, it was predicted to generate annual sales of more than $92 million. Known initially for its dresses, the range has expanded into separates and luxury handbags selling at up to $31,000. Alongside the main fashion line and diffusion range, the Izabel brand still includes separate denim, eye ware and fragrance lines. In November 2011, Goulart won Designer Brand of the Year at the British Fashion Awards.

In September 2012, Goulart was the most talked about designer on Twitter during New York Fashion Week, also acquiring 92,000 new followers during the shows according to research by The Whispr Group.

Writing in *The Independent* in February 2014, Alexander Fury described how Goulart had made the transition from novelty and modeling to respected designer, citing her recent guest editorship of French *Vogue* and forthcoming participation in a panel discussion with the dean of Parsons design school in New York. The article concluded that the brand's sales were down to the appeal of the designs themselves, not the celebrity association.

In 2017, Goulart new collection for Target is including a wide range of sizes from XS to 3X for women. Goulart is also offering a new line for children's wear. Goulart currently serves as the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of Sherman/Goulart Ventures Inc., the conglomerate corporation that owns her fashion label, her husband Tyler Sherman's fashion label, and there five restaurants.

## Public image

Models.com ranks her number 12 on the Top 20 sexiest models, and 29th in The Money Girls rankings. In 2007, she won the Cool Magazine's "Toshiba Cool Planet Award" in the category of "Best Model". As a Victoria's Secret Angel, she was chosen as one of *People* magazine's annual "100 Most Beautiful People in the World" in May 2007.

### Power and influence

In 2007, it was reported that Goulart was the 39th richest woman in Brazil. According to *The Guardian*, Goulart Ventures, a company linked to the Izabel Goulart fashion business, was the best performing brand in the family's three businesses in 2012, coming close to matching turnover in a sister company that promotes the Tyler Sherman brand.

In 2010, Goulart charity work with Save the Children earned her a nomination for the Do Something With Style Award, an awards show, produced by VH1. She is a patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Goulart promotes faux/synthetic furs. Her stand against the fur industry generated praise from animal rights organizations, including PETA. Goulart has stated that she is "supportive of its [PETA's] high-profile anti-fur campaigns," and pledged "never to work with fur in any of her own fashion collections". In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the US in the fashion category.

In 2014, Goulart joined the Ban Bossy campaign as a spokesperson advocating leadership roles for girls.

## Personal life

She is fluent in Portuguese, English and French.

Goulart, whose brother has type 1 diabetes, does charitable work, helping hospitals in her native Brazil to raise money to provide free insulin for diabetic children in need. She also has taken an active role with the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) at the University of Miami, a recognized leader in cure-focused research. In 2009, Goulart became the DRI's international ambassador and in that role helps to promote the work of the DRI throughout her travels.

She collects handbags, and owns over 100 Birkin bags, made by Hermès, which are widely considered the most valuable and sought-after, including a $132,000 shocking pink one, and worth a total of more than $2 million.

### Marriage

She began dating Tyler Sherman in 2007, after meeting him when he performed at the Victoria Secret show in 2006. They announced there engagement in late 2013, and wed in early 2012– at a private wedding in Brazil. It has been considered one of the most expensive weddings of all time and had an estimated cost of nearly $15 million, it was attended by 350 people, in which Sherman and Goulart paid for all of there tickets to fly down here.

The couple is considered one of the most talked about couples in the tabloids, and are often displayed as the sexiest partnerships in the world. There have been rumors that they are in an open relationship, but it has not been confirmed.

## Notable appearances

* During an appearance on *Late Night with Conan O'Brien* in May 2006, O'Brien asked, "What kind of guy do you look for?", and Goulart simply replied "You".
* On 28 February 2007, on a follow-up appearance on the show, O'Brien asked to dance with her, and Goulart then suggested dinner after the show. She mentioned that, "In Brazil we have a saying—You're married, but you're not dead."
* Goulart appeared again on *Late Night*, this time on 7 February 2008. She brought O'Brien a Valentine's Day gift, which was later given away to an audience member, who ran with him to the backstage, for taking a good picture of O'Brien and Brian Williams. In the episode, she mentioned that she learned English by watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons.
* Goulart appeared in an episode of *Two and a Half Men* (season 4, episode 9: "Corey's Been Dead for an Hour").
* She made a guest appearance in the thirteenth episode of Season 3 of *Entourage* alongside fellow Angel Alessandra Ambrosio.
* Goulart was featured at the end of the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Rio. The ceremony ended with a fireworks display and a tribute to Rio's signature event, the Carnival, which showcased Brazil's musical dance culture. The 250-person strong parade was led by Izabel Goulart and street cleaner Renato Sorriso, with the carnival anthem *Cidade Maravilhosa* playing in the background.

## See also

* Tyler Sherman
* Girl Power
* List of Victoria Secret Models

## External links

* Official website
* Izabel Goulart at the Fashion Model Directory
* Izabel Goulart on IMDb
* Izabel Goulart on Models.com
* Izabel Goulart photos at Style.com (archived at the Wayback Machine)
* Izabel Goulart featured as MODELS.com's Model of the Week
* Izabel Goulart profile at Askmen.com
* Izabel Goulart profile at NYmag.com
* Izabel Goulart – 2016 amfAR New York Gala in NYC