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Adriana Francesca Lima (born June
12, 1981) is a Brazilian model best known as a Victoria's Secret Angel
since 2000 and a spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to 2009.
At age 15, Lima finished first place 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.
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. 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."
In February 2008, Lima was featured on the cover of Esquire, re-creating
the classic 1966 Angie Dickinson cover on Esquire's 75th anniversary along
with fellow Victoria's Secret Angels Alessandra Ambrosio, Karolina
Kurkova, Izabel Goulart and Selita Ebanks. She appeared only in shoes,
diamonds and gloves for the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair celebrating
20 years of supermodels with her fellow Angels. In February 2008, she was
chosen to be the face of Mexico's Liverpool department store chain and
launched the partnership with a press conference, runway show, and summer
campaign. Lima returned to the high fashion runway in 2009, walking for
Givenchy. That same year, after visiting Turkey, Lima signed a contract
with Doritos to appear in print campaigns and commercials which began
airing in Turkey in April. She is also one of the faces of Givenchy for
the Fall/Winter 2009 season, alongside Mariacarla Boscono and Iris
Strubegger.
In 2006, Lima ranked as the fifth highest paid supermodel. In 2007 and
2008, she ranked as the world's fourth highest paid supermodel by Forbes
Magazine.
Lima is probably best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. Her first
fashion show for the company came in 1999, and since being contracted as
an Angel in 2000, she has appeared on subsequent shows ever since, opening
the show in 2003, 2007, and 2008, in which she also closed the opening
segment. Lima has appeared on several television ads for the brand,
including the praised and criticized "Angel in Venice" commercial of 2003
with Bob Dylan and her solo Victoria's Secret's Super Bowl XLII ad, the
single most-seen ad of the game, watched by 103.7 million viewers. 2008
continued for Lima with hosting the What Is Sexy? program for the E!
Entertainment Network and a July tour for the BioFit Uplift Bra launch,
with stops in Long Island, Boston, and Miami Beach. She was also featured
in November's Miracle Bra relaunch. Topping the year off, Lima wore the
"Fantasy Bra" for the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. In 2009, Lima
launched the company's new makeup line, "Christian Siriano for VS Makeup."
Lima's first acting role was the wife, alongside Mickey Rourke and Forest
Whitaker, in The Follow (2001), a short film in BMW's series The Hire,
starring Clive Owen. She also appeared with her fellow Angels in a guest
spot playing herself in the series How I Met Your Mother in November 2007.
In 2008, Lima appeared on the American television series Ugly Betty, where
she played herself and made friends with the series' title character,
played by America Ferrera. According to her publicist, Liza Anderson,
"Adriana has always been a huge fan of Ugly Betty and is thrilled for the
opportunity to make a guest star appearance."
Since her rise to fame, Lima is often cited by popular media as one of the
world's sexiest women. Lima was listed in the 2005 Forbes' edition of The
World's Best-Paid Celebrities Under 25. Also, she ranked No.99th in the
2006 Forbes' edition of The Celebrity 100 (Forbes' Highest Paid and
Powerful Celebrities in the World). Lima was chosen to be a part of People
magazine's 100 most beautiful people in the world list, sharing that space
with the Angels, with whom she also received a star on the Hollywood "Walk
of Fame" prior to the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That same year,
she ranked 7th on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women 2007" list and was awarded as
the "Hottest Girl on the Planet" at the first Spike TV Guys' Choice
Awards, although the category was not mentioned in the actual broadcast.
Lima was also voted on the Maxim "Hot 100" 2007 at the #53 spot. She was
voted #1 as the Most Desirable Woman in 2005 by visitors of the men's
lifestyle website, Askmen.com (she placed 4th in 2006 and 2007, 10th in
2008, and 19th in 2009). In November 2008, Models.com featured her at
number one on the list of the "Sexiest Models." In 2009, she was voted
sixth in "FHM's Sexiest Women In The World".
In addition to her native Portuguese, Lima speaks English, French, and a
bit of Italian. Lima was shy around boys when she was younger, not
receiving her first kiss until she was 17 years old. Afterward, the boy
went directly to her mother to ask if he could marry her. She is a devout
Catholic who attends church every Sunday. In April 2006, she told GQ that
she was a virgin. "Sex is for after marriage," she explained. "They have
to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they
don't want me." Staying true to her religious roots, she is known for
taking a Bible backstage to read.
She has been romantically linked to musician/singer Lenny Kravitz and
Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein. On Valentine's Day 2009, she married
Serbian basketball player Marko Jarić, whom she began dating in November
2007. They wed in a private civil ceremony in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The
couple originally planned on a large wedding in Salvador in June 2009, but
the couple decided to opt for a wedding in each of their hometowns; both
are scheduled to take place at the end of 2009.
The couple had their first child, a daughter named Valentina Lima Jarić,
on November 15, 2009. Lima's representative told People magazine: "Adriana
and Marko are overjoyed that they are expecting their first child together
and are excited to share the happy news and start their family together."
She has also recently applied for Serbian citizenship. |
