Adriana Lima: Supermodel of Brazil
By Sarah Stefanson September 1, 2009
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Becoming a model was never a part of Adriana Lima’s plan for her life, but when a friend wanted to enter a modelling contest in her native Brazil, Lima decided to enter too. The beauty pageants Lima won as a child couldn’t have prepared her for the success she was soon to enjoy in the modelling world. Soon the young girl who was shy around boys and went to church every Sunday would be sharing runways with famous supermodels wearing designer clothes.
At the age of just 15, Lima was named “Supermodel of Brazil” in a Ford model search. After this success, she entered the “Supermodel of the World” competition, also sponsored by Ford, and took second place in 1996. Lima soon relocated to the fashion capital of the United States, New York City, where she continued to build an impressive portfolio including work for international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire, despite her youth and a major language barrier.
Represented by Elite Model Management in New York, Lima landed runway gigs for world famous designers like Vera Wang, Christian Lacroix, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Valentino and Givenchy. In 2000, Lima won a Guess? campaign, which saw her star in the modelling world rise even higher. She became a spokesmodel for Maybelline in 2003 and has done extensive work for the company since then. Some of the fashion brands Lima has donned professionally include bebe, Mossimo, Bulgari, DeBeers, FCUK, Keds, Swatch and BCBG. She has graced covers and editorials in a wide variety of magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, GQ, Cosmopolitan and Esquire.
Although she has a diverse body of work and has worked with celebrated designers, famed photographers and legendary magazines, she is perhaps best known as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, a title she has embodied since 2000. She has been featured prominently on Victoria’s Secret runways and has appeared in high profile ads for the company including the most viewed commercial of Super Bowl XLII.
Forbes Magazine ranked Lima as the fifth highest paid supermodel in 2006 and she took the fourth spot on the same list in 2007 and 2008. She also appeared on the Forbes’ 2005 list of The World’s Best-Paid Celebrities Under 25 and was ranked 99th on the Celebrity 100, Forbes’ list of highest paid and most powerful celebrities.
Lima’s diverse ancestral background (a combination of French, Portuguese, Native-American and Caribbean heritage) and ability to speak Portuguese, English, French and Italian have made her popular with an international audience. She is especially famous in Italy, where she is the face of the cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile, but she is also appreciated by many fans from around the world. Lima has been named to lists of the hottest, most beautiful, sexiest and most desirable women in the world by popular media magazines such as People, FHM, Maxim and AskMen.com.
Her limited acting experience includes guest spots on How I Met Your Mother and Ugly Betty, as well as small roles in films. She hopes to do more acting in the future.
Lima’s favourite charitable cause is an orphanage called Caminhos da Luz (Ways of Light) in the town where she was born, Salvador, Bahia.
Growing up as a devout Catholic who once considered becoming a nun, Lima learned to hold strong to her beliefs, including saving herself for marriage (she revealed to GQ in 2006 that she remained a virgin). After being romantically linked to several celebrities and high profile figures including Lenny Kravitz and Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein, Lima began dating Serbian NBA player, Marko Jarić, in 2006. They were engaged two years later and on Valentine’s Day, 2009, they wed in a private ceremony in Wyoming. Lima and Jarić plan to have two wedding ceremonies in the coming months, one in Serbia and one in Brazil, so both their families can celebrate with them. People Magazine reported in May that the couple is expecting their first child in the winter of 2009.
Adriana Lima appears to be lucky in love and in life. Between her amazing career and satisfying family life, Lima has plenty to celebrate. The Brazilian beauty, who claims she can eat whatever she wants without ever stepping foot in a gym to maintain her svelte figure, is surely the envy of many.
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Submitted on September 1, 2009 in Who's Who.
Sarah is our Western Canadian correspondent. She recently left a long-standing position as editor and writer for TheSoko.com, DriverSense.com & LiveDress.com to focus on book and novel writing. Sarah continues contribute weekly articles to AskMen.ca and Models & Moguls. Sarah thinks she might have been a model if it weren’t for the blessing of Slavic hips and thighs.
Sarah Stefanson has contributed 64 articles to Models & Moguls.
