Adriana Francesca Lima (born June 12, 1981) is a Brazilian
model, best known as a Victoria's Secret
Angel since 2000, and as a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to
2009. At age 15, Lima finished first in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil"
competition, and took second place the following year in the Ford
"Supermodel of the World" competition before signing with Elite Model
Management in New York City.
Modeling
Lima never thought about being a model, although she
had won many beauty pageants in elementary school. However, she had a friend at
school who wanted to enter a modeling contest and didn't want to enter alone,
so Lima entered with her. Both sent in pictures, and the contest sponsor soon
asked Lima to come out for the competition. Soon after, at the age of 15, she
entered and finished in first place in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil"
model search. She subsequently entered the 1996 Ford "Supermodel of the
World" contest and finished in second place. Three years later, Lima moved
to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. After acquiring
representation, Lima's modeling portfolio quickly began to expand, and she
appeared in numerous international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As a
runway model, she has walked the catwalks for designers such as Vera Wang,
Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Ralph Lauren and
Valentino, among others. Lima became a GUESS? girl in 2000, appearing in that
year's fall ad campaign. She also appeared in the book A Second Decade of
Guess? Images.
Lima continued to build upon her portfolio, doing more
print work for Maybelline, for whom she worked as a spokesmodel from 2003 until
2009, the same year she appeared in the company's first calendar, a limited
edition run also featuring Kemp Muhl, Jessica White, Julia Stegner, and Anna
Wang. Lima has also worked for notable fashion brands bebe, Mossimo, Armani,
Bulgari, De Beers, FCUK, Intimissimi, Keds, Swatch, Versace, and BCBG. She also
appeared on the covers and in the editorials of other fashion magazines such as
Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, GQ, Arena, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. Her April 2006 GQ
cover was the highest-selling issue that magazine for the year, while her April
2008 cover brought a record number of hits to the magazine's website.[citation
needed] She also appeared in the 2005 Pirelli Calendar and became the face of
Italy's cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile, a move that earned her the
nickname, "the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."
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