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Adriana Lima
Birth name	Adriana Francesca Lima[1]
Date of birth	June 12, 1981 (1981-06-12) (age 26)
Place of birth	Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Hair color	Brown[2]
Eye color	Green[2]/ Blue [3]
Measurements	34-23-33 (US)[2]
Dress size	34 (EU); 4 (US)
Shoe size	9 (US)[2]
Agency	DNA Model Management[2] Lumiere Models in Brazil VIVA Models in Europe

Adriana Francesca Lima (born June 12^[4] 1981) is a Brazilian supermodel. Lima is best known for her modeling work with Victoria's Secret and Maybelline.

Contents 1 Early life and family 2 Modeling career 3 Personal life 4 Lima in the media 5 Charity 6 References 7 External links

Early life and family

Lima was born in the northeastern coastal town of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil on June 12, 1981^[5]. Her parents are Nelson Torres and Maria da Graça Lima, a social worker.^[6] In late 2007, she told a reporter at the Walk of Fame that she has two half brothers, aged 7 and 11 ^[7]. She has stated that she is of African, Indian and Swiss descent.^[8]

When she was 6 months old, her father walked out on her and her mother.^[6] She has since been distanced from him. However, recently, she has been making attempts to reconcile with her estranged father.^[9]

Modeling career

Lima was discovered while shopping at a local mall at the age of 13. At the age of 15, she entered and finished in first place in Brazil's Ford Supermodel of the World Search. She subsequently entered the 1996 Ford Supermodel of the World contest and finished second place.^[10] Three years later, she moved to New York City, and signed with Elite Model Management. Lima’s modeling portfolio began to expand exponentially, appearing in numerous international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As for fashion shows, she has walked the catwalks for big-name designers such as Vera Wang, Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, among others. Lima then became a GUESS? girl appearing on GUESS?' Fall 2000 ad campaign. She also appeared in the book 'A second decade of Guess? Images'.^[11]

In 2001, Lima starred in BMW short film, The Follow alongside actors Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, and Forest Whitaker. The film was directed by Hong Kong film director and internationally renowned auteur Wong Kar-Wai.^[12]

Lima continued to build upon her entry, doing more print work for Maybelline, bebe, Mossimo, BCBG and gracing the cover and editorials of more high fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Vogue, GQ, to name a few. Her April 2006 GQ cover was the highest-selling issue of the year.^[13] Her other notable works include the well-famed Pirelli Calendar 2005^[11] and the face of Italy’s big cell phone carrier Telecom Italia Mobile where she became known as the "Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."^[14]

Lima is probably best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. She first graced the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 1999 and has appeared on subsequent shows ever since. Her most notable walk down the runway was in 2003, where she was the show opener. Lima had appeared on several television ads for the brand but her most memorable one, was appearing alongside the legendary rock musician Bob Dylan in 2003 Victoria's Secret Angel in Venice commercial which received both praise and criticism. ^[15][16]She is currently a contract 'Angel' and spokesperson for the brand.^[11]

Lima is also a spokesperson for cosmetic giant Maybelline New York.^[3] She is the world's fourth highest paid supermodel as of 2007.^{[13][14][17][18]}

Personal life

Lima is fluent in three languages—Portuguese, Spanish and English. In her free time, she loves reading a novel by her favorite author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.^[3]

Lima has admitted that she was shy around boys when she was younger, not receiving her first kiss until she was 17 years old.^[19] In an interview with GQ April 2006 issue, Lima told the magazine that she is a devoted Catholic and a virgin. “Sex is for after marriage," she says. "They have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me." She also said that she attends church every Sunday. ^[20] US GQ dubbed her as "The World's Most Voluptuous Virgin".^[21]

Despite reports, Lima denied ever being engaged to rocker Lenny Kravitz and said that she and Kravitz are just friends.^{[citation needed]} She has also been romantically linked to other celebrities in the past, including New York Yankees superstar, Derek Jeter^[21] and Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein.^[18]

Currently, Lima is reported dating NBA Minnesota Timberwolves player, Serbian Marko Jarić. [3]

Lima in the media

Since her rise to fame, Lima is often cited by popular media as one of the world's sexiest women. She ranked 7th on FHM 100 Sexiest Women 2007^[22] and was chosen as one of People Magazine's annual 100 Most Beautiful People in the World, in May 2007.^[23] On June 13, 2007, she was awarded as "Hottest Girl on the Planet" at the first Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards but the category was not mentioned in the actual show.^[24] Lima was also voted on the Maxim Hot 100 2007 as number 53. She was voted as the Most Desirable Woman in 2005 by visitors of the largest men's lifestyle website, Askmen.com (she placed 4th in 2006 and also 4th in 2007).

Charity

Lima does charitable work helping with an orphanage, "Caminhos da Luz" (Ways of Light), located in her hometown. She helps with construction to expand the orphanage, and buys clothes for poor children in Salvador, Bahia.^[10]

References

External links

• Adriana Lima at the Internet Movie Database
• Adriana Lima in the Fashion Model Directory

v • d • e Victoria's Secret Angels
Alessandra Ambrosio · Selita Ebanks · Izabel Goulart · Miranda Kerr · Heidi Klum · Karolína Kurková · Adriana Lima · Marisa Miller
Former Angels	Tyra Banks · Gisele Bündchen · Laetitia Casta · Helena Christensen · Karen Mulder · Daniela Pestova · Maria Inés Rivero · Stephanie Seymour
Related articles	Edward Razek · Limited Brands · List of Victoria's Secret models · Pink (Victoria's Secret) · Victoria's Secret

Persondata
NAME	Lima, Adriana Francesca
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Brazilian fashion model
DATE OF BIRTH	June 12, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH	Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH