Golden Touch

As one of Brazil’s most successful and enduring models, ana beatriz barros has had a golden career – and within the past year, with a wedding and now a baby on the way, her personal l ife has caught up too. Emirates woman explores the supermodel’s fascinating world and her surpris ing middle eastern connections

- Rachel Silvestri

Ana Beatriz Barros has had so many pinch-yourself moments, it is little wonder she is superstitious.

The tiny evil eye beads hand-sewn into her custom Valentino wedding dress and her husband’s Rubinacci tuxedo on their wedding day are testament to it. They were intended to ward off bad omens at the couple’s nuptials but looking at Barros’ beaming smile as she walked down the aisle at her incredible cliff top wedding ceremony, it seemed she already had all the luck in the world, nazar or not.

Before a gathering of 1,500 family and friends on the picturesque Greek island of Mykonos – a smattering of famous faces among them – Barros wed her Egyptian beau Karim el Chiaty, bathed in a Mediterranean sunset.

“It was simply the best moment of my life,” says Barros. “You stand there and think: ‘Is this really all for me? Do I deserve all this?’ It was just magical.”

The couple vowed to “listen to your heart and nurture your spirit,” before an evening of Greek-style revelry began.

Barros and El Chiaty stood beneath an arch of white flowers, flanked by pinkclad bridesmaids, with fellow supermodels Alessandra Ambrosio, Fernanda Motta and Isabeli Fontana among their number.

But, says Barros, dressing the stunning bridal party was one of the more difficult aspects of wedding planning: “Oh, [the dresses] were a bit of a nightmare! They all wanted something different to wear. One would say: ‘I don’t look good in pink,’ then another would say: ‘I don’t like the style of this or that’.

“Can you imagine – all these models, they’re so aware of what works on them and what doesn’t so they had all these opinions. And of course, in the end they all looked amazing and they would have looked amazing in anything!”