When Isabeli was a young girl, she told her mum that she wanted to be a model. Growing up in Brazil, this probably sounded like the wandering musings of a bored child to her mother, but little Isabeli wasn't just daydreaming...
Today, the name Isabeli Fontana reaches far and wide, and she's now a well-known model in major consumer markets, such as the UK, Italy, France, America and Spain.
And despite being a very successful teen model, Isabeli hasn't fizzled out early in her career, and is well aware of how fickle the fashion industry is and how often 'use-by' dates get bandied about by agents.
But where did it all start for the Brazilian brunette? Curitiba, Brazil, to be exact, on the 4th of July 1983. Born into a family of five - mum, dad, and her two brothers Heric and Harrison - Isabeli Bergossi Fontana started to realise she was capable of great things when in 1996 at age 13 she was a finalist at an "Elite Model Look" contest in São Paulo.
In 1997, at just 14 years old, Isabeli moved to Milan where she began working as a professional model. While many were quick to suggest that she was too young to be thrust into such a hectic world, the real controversy came two years later in 1999...
Isabeli Fontana appeared in the hugely successful and highly lucrative Victoria's Secret lingerie catalogue at age 16, when the company had previously stated that it's policy was to sign models no younger than 21 years old.