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Ana Hickmann was born on March 1,
1981 in Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil. Her parents were German immigrants who
sustained the family with farming. Young Ana spent her impoverished early
years picking up hen eggs and planting strawberries before dawn. When she
was 13 years old, it was obvious she had the kind of body that was not
destined for a starring role on Green Acres. She started modeling and won
a number of local beauty pageants. The first born of her family,
expectations were high.
In 1996, she left her village to visit relatives in Sao Paulo. A friend of
hers convinced her to participate in a modeling competition that she
reluctantly agreed. Before she knew it, she was among the three who were
awarded an exclusive contract with Mega Models.
On February 14, 1998, two weeks shy of her 17th birthday, she got married
to former model Alexander Corręa who was nine years her senior. Although
they were madly in love, the real reason for the hasty marriage was that
Ana wanted to go to Paris, but the fact that she was a minor caused
bureaucratic problems.
In 2000, Paolo Zampolli, president of the famous agency ID Models, flew to
southern Brazil to see what the Brazilian model hype, begun by Gisele
Bundchen, was about. From the outset, Zampolli realized he had a winner on
his hands and signed her up to his New York agency. Before long, she was
traveling all over the world in the employ of other agencies such as
Storm, Paolo Tomei, Max Models, and Louisa. Famous fashion photographers
Patrick Demarchelier and the recently deceased Helmut Newton stated that
Ana is their favorite subject. This kind of relationship enabled her to
work on ad campaigns for Cia Maritima, Versace, Golden Lady, La Perla,
Nivea, and Wella. In July 2002, she was selected to participate in
Victoria's Secret's Very Sexy campaign for a fee of $250,000 US. The TV
commercial, which also featured Adriana Lima, Tyra Banks, Gisele Bundchen,
and Laetitia Casta, was shot by popular movie director Michael Bay of
Pearl Harbor (2001) fame.
Still married to Corręa who is now the guiding light of her career, Ana
explored a new direction in late 2002. She has launched a collection of
makeup, shoes, swimsuits, and eyewear simply called Ana Hickmann. She and
her husband also own a photo studio, and a DJ agency in Sao Paulo. The
idea is that when her modeling career comes to an end, she'll have
something to fall back on.
Adored in her native country by legions of fans, she is one of the
highest-paid models in Brazil. She devotes her time to charity work and
lives both in Sao Paulo and New York, where she has an apartment. |
