Adriana Francesca Lima is a Brazilian model and actress who is famous as the ‘Victoria’s Secret Angel’. Her understanding of professionalism and incredible physical appeal has earned her the right to be counted among the best in her profession. Lima’s modeling career began at a young age in the elementary school, which proved to be a stepping stone in her modeling career. She was also the spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to 2009 and appeared in the company’s first calendar.
She also did an ad-campaign for Swatch, which gave her additional recognition. Lima has appeared in several international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As a runway model, she has done the catwalks for designers like Giorgio Armani, Vera Wang and Valentino. Lima became a GUESS? girl in 2000 and appeared in their fall ad campaign the very same year. In 2012, Lima earned the fourth position on the Forbes top- earning models list, estimated to earn $7.3 million in one year. She is married to a Serbian basketball player Marco Jaric, and has two daughters with him.
Childhood & Early Life
Adriana Lima was born on June 12, 1981, at Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, to Nelson Torres and Maria da Graca Lima. Her mother was a social worker and raised her all alone after her father abandoned them during her childhood.
During her elementary school, she won many beauty pageants but did not consider pursuing a career in modeling. However, at 13, she entered Ford’s ‘Supermodel of Brazil’ modeling contest along with a friend who didn’t want to enter the contest alone – she finished at the first place!
In 1996, she entered Ford’s ‘Supermodel of World’ contest where she finished second. Three years later, she moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. Thereafter, she appeared in many international editions of ‘Vogue’ and ‘Marie Claire’ and did catwalk for many famous designers such as Vera Wang, Giorgio Armani and Valentino.
Career
In 2000, Adriana Lima became an official ‘Guess’ girl and did many ad campaigns for it. Three years later, she joined ‘Maybelline’ as a spokesmodel where she continued till 2009. In the same year, she appeared in company’s first calendar and also did an ad campaign for swatch.
Meanwhile, she worked for some notable fashion brands including, ‘bebe’, ‘Armani’, ‘Versace’, ‘BCBG’ and ‘Louis Vuitton’. She has also appeared on the covers of fashion magazines such as, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’, ‘Elle’, ‘GQ’, ‘Arena’, ‘Vogue’, ‘V’, ‘Esquire’, and ‘French revue des modes’.
In 2001, she bagged her first acting role in ‘The Follow’, a short-film in BMW series ‘The Hire’ where she played a damsel in distress, appearing alongside Clive Owen, Mickey Rorke and Forest Whitaker.
In 2005, she appeared in the Pirelli calendar and also became the face of Italy’s cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile. It earned her the nickname ‘Catherine Zeta Jones of Italy’.
In 2008, she got featured on the covers of ‘Esquire’. In the same year she was chosen to be the face of the Mexico’s Liverpool department store chain. She also appeared on the American television series, ‘Ugly Betty’ the same year.
In 2009, she walked for ‘Givenchy’ and later signed a contract with Doritos to appear in print campaigns. She was also one of the faces of Givenchy for Fall/Winter 2009 season.
In 2011, she signed a deal as a spokeswoman for Megacity by Votsu to appear in their commercials and also became the face of Brazilian luxury brand. During this time, she also worked with many eminent photographers such as Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matidin, Vincent Peters, Mario Sorrenti, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, David Sims and Mario Testino.
In 2012, she signed a contract with a Turkish clothing company, Mavi Jeans, and did many advertisement campaigns which earned her much recognition. Due to her rising fame, the European and Russian branch of Mavi made her the global face of the brand.
She, for the second time, featured in the Pirelli calendar for the 2013 edition. She has set a record of sorts by being the first pregnant woman to be ever featured in the calendar.
Personal Life
In June 2008, after nine months of dating, Adriana Lima got engaged to NBA player Marco Jaric. They got married the next year on St. Valentine’s Day in Jackson’s hole, Wyoming. The couple has two daughters, Valentina Lima Jaric and Sienna.
She is a devoted Roman Catholic and attends mass every Sunday. She is also a part of a charitable trust helping an orphanage located in Salvador. She helps with construction to expand the orphanage, and buys clothes for poor children.
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