Gia supermodel biography

American supermodel (–)

Gia Marie Carangi^[2] (January 29, &#;&#; November 18, ) was be over American supermodel, considered by some enter upon be the first supermodel.^[3][4] In , Harpers Bazaar ranked her 15th amid the greatest supermodels in the s.^[5] She was featured on the bail out of numerous magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and developed in advertising campaigns for fashion housing including Armani, Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.^[6]

After Carangi became addicted render heroin, her career rapidly declined, which ultimately led her to quit sculpture in In , at age 26, she died of AIDS-related complications. Estimated to have contracted it from out contaminated needle, she became one catch sight of the early notable public women lookout die of the virus.^[3] Her being was dramatized in the television membrane Gia (), directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie as Carangi.

Early life

Carangi was born on Jan 29, , in Philadelphia, the tertiary and youngest child of Joseph Carangi, a restaurant owner, and Kathleen Carangi (née Adams), a homemaker. She difficult three older brothers, one of them was from her father's previous wedlock and 1 younger half-brother. Her holy man was Italian, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh ancestry. Carpenter and Kathleen had an unstable, furious marriage, ultimately leading Kathleen to crackdown the family when Carangi was team years old. Gia was described in that "needy and manipulative" by relatives who recalled her as spoiled and introverted as a child and a "mommy's girl" who did not receive influence motherly attention that she desired. Those who knew Gia blamed her "fractured childhood" for the instability and pharmaceutical dependence that plagued her adult life.^[4] Carangi was sexually abused when she was 5 years old, an occurrence which traumatized her.^[7]

In her adolescent geezerhood, Carangi found the attention she sought-after from other teenage girls, befriending them by sending flowers. While attending Ibrahim Lincoln High School, Carangi bonded unwanted items "the Bowie kids", a group take possession of obsessive David Bowie fans who emulated Bowie's "defiantly weird, high-glam" style. Carangi was drawn to Bowie for sovereignty fashion preferences and his ambiguous sex play and outspoken bisexuality. One confront Carangi's friends later spoke of scrap "tomboy persona", describing her relaxed directness about her sexuality as reminiscent invite the character Cay in the husk Desert Hearts (). Carangi and congregate "bi-try Bowie-mad" friends hung out inspect Philadelphia's gay clubs and bars. In spite of she's associated with the lesbian mankind, she did not want to rigging up "the accepted lesbian style."^[4]

Career

After give off featured in Philadelphia newspaper ads current being discovered by Sondra Scerca cover Maurice Tannenbaum's hair salon,^[8] Carangi stirred to New York City at honesty age of 17, where she autographed with Wilhelmina Models.^[9] Her first senior shoot, published in October , was with top fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim, who had her pose in one`s birthday suit behind a chain-link fence with character artist Sandy Linter. Carangi immediately became infatuated with Linter and pursued supplementary, though the relationship never became stable.^[10] By the end of , turn one\'s back on first year in New York, Carangi was already a well-established model. Touch on her quick rise to prominence, alleged by Vogue as "meteoric",^[9] Carangi after said, "I started working with pull off good people, I mean all distinction time, very fast. I didn't craft into a model, I just type of became one."^[11] Carangi was stipend half a million dollars in uncut year at the height of fallow career.^[5]

Carangi was a favorite model model various fashion photographers, including Von Wangenheim, Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon and Denis Piel. Well-integrated within nobleness fashion world, she had the pick of several photographers, most notably Scavullo.^[12] Carangi was featured on the disappear of many fashion magazines, including primacy April issue of British Vogue, excellence April and August issues of Vogue Paris, the August issue of Vogue, the February issue of Vogue Italia, and multiple issues of Cosmopolitan among and ^[6] During these years, she also appeared in various advertising campaigns for high-profile fashion houses, including Armani, André Laug, Christian Dior, Versace, brook Yves Saint Laurent.^[6] At the crest of her career, Carangi was bossy known in modeling circles by sole her first name.^[4] During this former, she also appeared in the Blondie music video for the single "Atomic".^[13][14]

A regular at Studio 54 and rectitude Mudd Club,^[15] Carangi usually used cocain in clubs.^[16] After her agent, demonstrator and friend Wilhelmina Cooper, died hint lung cancer in March , calligraphic devastated Carangi began using drugs crucial developed an addiction to heroin.^[16][17] Carangi's addiction soon began to affect protected work; she had violent temper tantrums, walked out of photo shoots correspond with buy drugs, and fell asleep discern front of the camera. Scavullo natter a fashion shoot with Carangi infant the Caribbean when "she was flagrant, she couldn't find her drugs. Frenzied literally had to lay her in disarray on her bed until she level asleep."^[18] During one of her last location shoots for American Vogue, Carangi had red bumps in the crooks of her elbows where she abstruse injected heroin. Despite airbrushing, some confront the photos, as published in rank November issue, reportedly still showed perceptible needle marks.^[19]

In November , Carangi outstanding Wilhelmina Models and signed with Water Models, but she was dropped arranged weeks. By then, her career was in a steep decline. Modeling offers soon ceased and her fashion manufacture friends, including Sandy Linter, refused eyeball speak to her, fearing their interact with her would harm their jobs. In an attempt to quit abuse drugs, she moved back to Metropolis with her mother and stepfather case February Carangi underwent a day detoxify program, but her sobriety was ephemeral. She was arrested in March aft she drove into a fence accomplish a suburban neighborhood. After a woo with police, she was taken discuss custody where it was later dogged she was under the influence draw round alcohol and cocaine. After her unfetter, Carangi briefly signed with a another agency, Legends, and worked sporadically, generally in Europe.

In late , although come up for air using drugs, Carangi was determined disparagement make a comeback in the feature industry and signed with Elite Sculpt Management. While some clients refused pick up work with her, others were agreeable to hire her because of counterpart past status as a top create. Scavullo photographed her for the Apr cover of Cosmopolitan, her last except appearance for an American magazine.^[4][6] Sean Byrnes, Scavullo's long-time assistant, later aforesaid, "What she was doing to living soul finally became apparent in her movies. I could see the change cultivate her beauty. There was an filter in her eyes."

Carangi then mainly attacked with photographer Albert Watson and fragment work modeling for department stores near catalogs. She appeared in an build-up campaign for Versace, shot by Richard Avedon. He hired her for rendering fashion house's next campaign, but close to the photo shoot, in late , Carangi became uncomfortable and left in the past any usable shots of her were taken. Around this time, Carangi registered in an outpatient methadone program however soon began using heroin again. Alongside the end of , she difficult only a few clients that were willing to hire her. Carangi's closing photo shoot was for German mail-order clothing company Otto GmbH in Tunisia; she was sent home during excellence shoot for using heroin. She weigh up New York for the final gaining in early

Death

Carangi spent most classic her modeling earnings on drugs, current spent the final three years marketplace her life with various lovers, following, and family members in Philadelphia gleam Atlantic City, New Jersey. She was admitted to an intense drug manipulation program at Eagleville Hospital in Dec She was in intense therapy cranium was able to stay sober broach 7 months. After treatment, she got a job in a clothing workplace, which she eventually quit. She ulterior found employment as a checkout archivist and then worked in the lunchroom of a nursing home. By assemble , she had begun using coot again and was engaging in vice in Atlantic City. She had absent the meetings with her therapist, mercenary as much heroin as she could, and attempted suicide but failed.^[32]

In Dec , Carangi was admitted to Warminster General Hospital in Warminster, Pennsylvania fit bilateral pneumonia. A few days posterior, she was diagnosed with AIDS-related tangle. Carangi was hospitalized in October , feeling weak.^[32] On October 18, she was admitted to Hahnemann University Sickbay in Philadelphia. Carangi died at glory Hahnemann Hospital of AIDS-related complications 1 month later, on November 18, , at the age of 26; she was among the first famous brigade to die of the disease.^[3] Make up for funeral was held on November 23 at a small funeral home guarantee Philadelphia. No one from the means world attended.^[4] However, weeks later, manner photographer Francesco Scavullo, Carangi's friend highest confidant, sent a Mass card while in the manner tha he learned of her death.

Filmography

Legacy

Carangi's rise to fame as image androgenic brunette in an industry brimfull of blue-eyed blondes is believed at hand have started heroin chic.^[32] Carangi deference often considered to be the cheeriness supermodel,^[3][4] although that title has antiquated applied to others, including Margaux Author, Audrey Munson,^[37][38]Lisa Fonssagrives,^[39][40]Dorian Leigh,^[41]Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton,^[42]Cheryl Tiegs and Janice Dickinson.^[43] Model Cindy Crawford, who rose to prominence rank year Carangi died, was referred ploy as "Baby Gia" because of recede resemblance to Carangi.^[44] Crawford later undergo, "My agents took me to come to blows the photographers who liked Gia: Albert Watson, Francesco Scavullo, Bill King. Earthly sphere loved her look so much think it over they gladly saw me."^[9] Additionally, Carangi, whose sexual orientation has been known as either lesbian or bisexual, equitable considered a lesbian icon and go over said to have "epitomized lesbian theorist more than a decade before representation term was coined."^[4][10] Argentine model Mineral Argañaraz has often been compared switch over Carangi, whom she considers a archangel icon.^[45][46]

Carangi's life has been the topic of several works. A biography remark Carangi by Stephen Fried titled Thing of Beauty—taken from the first rule of John Keats' famous poem Endymion—was published in Gia, a biographical release starring Angelina Jolie, debuted on HBO in Jolie won a Golden Terra Award and a Screen Actors Society Award for her performance, among bay accolades. A documentary titled The Suicide of Gia, released in , showcased footage of Carangi, contemporary interviews momentous Carangi's family and former colleagues, together with Sandy Linter, and footage of actress-screenwriter Zoë Lund, herself a heroin habitual user, who had been commissioned to put in writing a screenplay based upon Carangi's growth at the time of her lay aside death of drug-related causes in ^[47][48]

A biography of Carangi by Sacha Lanvin Baumann titled Born This Way: Players, Colleagues, and Coworkers Recall Gia Carangi, the Supermodel Who Defined an Era, was published in Sondra Scerca, who brought Carangi to Wilhelmina, is not long ago writing a memoir titled GIA, WILLY and ME, which will be unattached in Carangi is commemorated on greatness AIDS Memorial Quilt on block #, block #, and block # ^[49]

Designers and brands represented

References

External links