Pro Active.

Byline: ANNA WINTOUR

When dreaming up this annual Shape Issue, dedicated to fashion and fitness for all, we quickly decided on Gisele Bundchen as our cover girl (and on the amazing LeBron James as our cover boy). The case of Gisele is interesting because she's one of the last true stars to have emerged from the catwalks. The key to her success, I think, is that she's always been Gisele first and foremost: a happy, physically vibrant Brazilian with long hair, twinkling eyes, freckles, and a nose that's entirely her own. Her body is athletic and curvaceous (by the standards of the modeling business), but most important, her personality is as winning as ever. This month, we also feature four newer models--Caroline Trentini, Doutzen Kroes, Daria Werbowy, and Raquel Zimmermann--who bring more to the profession than a long, lean body that can walk and pose. (See Annie Leibovitz and Tonne Goodman's powerfully elegant portfolio "Dream Team," page 292.)

I wish I could say the same for the young women who were just on the runways at the New York fall collections. Overall, they were pale and thin, and entirely lacking in the joyfulness and charm that once defined the supermodels. This is, of course, not their fault: Designers now near-uniformly favor a non-vivacious, homogenous ideal.

It's a strange time in the fashion industry. Our top talents, usually so adept at anticipating their public's preoccupations and desires, appear to me to be utterly disconnected from the cultural stream. Surely, given the upcoming summer Olympics in ...