Celebrity Galore

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. 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 was born in the northeastern coastal town of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil on June 12, 1981. Her father, from whom she was estranged for most of her life, is Nelson Torres, and her mother, Maria da Graça Lima, was a social worker. Lima revealed that her father walked out on her family when she was six months old, but has been making recent attempts to reconcile. Lima told reporters at the Hollywood Walk of Fame that although she is her mother’s only child, she has two half brothers, aged 7 and 11 in 2007, from her father’s second marriage. Coming from a poor family, her first time leaving her country and first time on a plane was when she was 15. She was raised mainly by her mother and her grandmother. In elementary school she won many beauty contests such as “Rainha do Milho” and “Fiancee from Festa Junina.”

Lima never thought about being a model. 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 began to expand by leaps and bounds, and she appeared 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 and Valentino, among others. Lima then became a GUESS? girl, appearing in their Fall 2000 ad campaign. She also appeared in the book A second decade of Guess? Images.

In February 2008 she 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 Karolina Kurkova, Izabel Goulart and Selita Ebanks. As of November 2008, Models.com featured her at No.1 on the list of the hottest models today. 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. Lima was chosen to be a part of People magazine’s 100 most beautiful people in the world, 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. 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.

She is the world’s fourth highest paid model as of 2007.

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 also served as the face of the Miracle Bra relaunch in November.Topping the year off, Lima wore the “Fantasy Bra” for the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. In early 2008 Lima renewed her contract with Victoria’s Secret, along with Maybelline for 5 more years.

Source [ Wikipedia ]