Gia Carangi
Gia Carangi | |
|---|---|
Carangi in 1982 | |
| Born | Gia Marie Carangi January 29, 1960 |
| Died | November 18, 1986 (aged 26) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Cause of death | AIDS-related complications |
| Occupation | Model |
| Years active | 1978–1983 |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Agency | Wilhelmina Models Ford Models Legends Elite Model Management |
Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986) was an American supermodel, considered by some to be the first supermodel. In 2023, Harpers Bazaar ranked her 15th among the greatest supermodels in the 1980s. She was featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for fashion houses including Armani, Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.
After Carangi became addicted to heroin, her career rapidly declined, which ultimately led her to quit modeling in 1983. In 1986, at age 26, she died of AIDS-related complications. Believed to have contracted it from a contaminated needle, she became one of the early notable women to die of the virus. Her life was dramatized in the television film Gia (1998), directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie as Carangi.