Adriana Lima Biography

(Brazilian Model Who was Named the 'Most Valuable Victoria's Secret Angel' in 2017)

Birthday: June 12, 1981 (Gemini)

Born In: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Adriana Francesca Lima is a Brazilian model and actress who is famous as the Victoria’s Secret Angel. Lima’s modeling career began at a young age in the elementary school, which proved to be a stepping stone in her modeling career. She was also the spokesmodel for Maybelline cosmetics from 2003 to 2009, and appeared in the company’s first calendar. She also did an ad-campaign for Swatch, which gave her additional recognition. Lima has appeared in several international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As a runway model, she has done the catwalks for designers like Giorgio Armani, Vera Wang and Valentino. Lima became a GUESS girl in 2000, and appeared in their fall ad campaign the very same year. In 2012, Lima earned the fourth position on the Forbes top-earning models list after she earned an estimated $7.3 million in one year. She retained her second place with earnings $10.5 million in 2016. Currently, she is an ambassador for Maybelline, IWC, Chopard and Puma.

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Quick Facts

Nick Name: LimaBean

Age: 43 Years, 43 Year Old Females

Family:

father: Nelson Torres

mother: Maria da Graça Lima

children: Sienna Lima Jaric', Valentina Lima Jaric'

Born Country: Brazil

Models Brazilian Women

Height: 5'10" (178 cm), 5'10" Females

Ancestry: Japanese Brazilian, Portuguese Brazilian, Swiss Brazilian

City: Salvador, Brazil

  • 1

    Where did Adriana Lima grow up?

    Adriana Lima grew up in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

  • 2

    What is Adriana Lima's ethnic background?

    Adriana Lima is of mixed Indigenous Brazilian, Swiss, African, Japanese, and West Indian descent.

  • 3

    How did Adriana Lima start her modeling career?

    Adriana Lima was discovered at the age of 13 in Brazil when she won Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" competition.

  • 4

    What is Adriana Lima known for outside of modeling?

    Adriana Lima is known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angel and her philanthropic efforts, particularly with St. Luke Foundation for Haiti.

  • 5

    How many languages does Adriana Lima speak?

    Adriana Lima is fluent in three languages: Portuguese, English, and Spanish.

Childhood & Early Life
Adriana Lima was born on June 12, 1981, at Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, to Nelson Torres and Maria da Graca Lima. Her mother was a social worker and raised her all alone after her father abandoned them during her childhood.

During her elementary school, she won many beauty pageants but did not consider pursuing a career in modeling. However, at thirteen, she entered Ford’s Supermodel of Brazil modeling contest along with a friend who didn’t want to enter the contest alone - she finished at the first place!

In 1996, she entered Ford’s Supermodel of World contest where she finished second. Three years later, she moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. Thereafter, she appeared in many international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire and did catwalk for many famous designers such as Vera Wang, Giorgio Armani and Valentino.

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Career

In 2000, Adriana Lima became an official Guess girl and did many ad campaigns for it. Three years later, she joined Maybelline as a spokesmodel where she continued till 2009. In the same year, she appeared in company’s first calendar and also did an ad campaign for swatch.

Meanwhile, she worked for some notable fashion brands including, bebe, Armani, Versace, BCBG and Louis Vuitton. She has also appeared on the covers of fashion magazines such as, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, GQ, Arena, Vogue, V, Esquire, and French revue des modes.

In 2001, she bagged her first acting role in The Follow, a short-film in BMW series The Hire where she played a damsel in distress, appearing alongside Clive Owen, Mickey Rorke and Forest Whitaker.

In 2005, she appeared in the Pirelli calendar and also became the face of Italy’s cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile. It earned her the nickname Catherine Zeta Jones of Italy.

In 2008, she got featured on the covers of Esquire. In the same year she was chosen to be the face of the Mexico’s Liverpool department store chain. She also appeared on the American television series, Ugly Betty the same year.

In 2009, she walked for Givenchy and later signed a contract with Doritos to appear in print campaigns. She was also one of the faces of Givenchy for Fall/Winter 2009 season.

In 2011, she signed a deal as a spokeswoman for Megacity by Votsu to appear in their commercials and also became the face of Brazilian luxury brand. During this time, she also worked with many eminent photographers such as Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matidin, Vincent Peters, Mario Sorrenti, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, David Sims and Mario Testino.
In 2012, she signed a contract with a Turkish clothing company, Mavi Jeans, and did many advertisement campaigns which earned her much recognition. Due to her rising fame, the European and Russian branch of Mavi made her the global face of the brand.
She, for the second time, featured in the Pirelli calendar for the 2013 edition. She has set a record of sorts by being the first pregnant woman to be ever featured in the calendar.
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In 2014, she once again became the Maybelline New York spokesmodel. She was the brand ambassador of the Maybelline between 2003 and 2009.
Over the next few years, she modeled for some of the biggest brands, such as for Vogue Eyewear and Marc Jacobs' fragance 'Decadence', in 2015; Italian lingerie brand Calzedonia's Swimwear collection, in 2016; and Italian ready-to-wear clothing brand, Sportsmax, in 2017.
Major Works

In 1999, Adriana Lima did the first Fashion show for Victoria’s secret and signed a contract with them as an Angel’ in 2000.

In November 2008, she featured in Miracle Bra Relaunch where she wore the Fantasy bra, which was created by American jewelry designer Martin Katz and was set with 3575 black diamonds, 117 certified 1 carat white round diamonds, 34 rubies, and two black diamond drops totaling 100 carats and valued over $5 millions.

In 2008, she featured in Victoria's Secret's Super Bowl XLII ad, which proved to be the single most-seen ad of the game. It was watched by 103.7 million viewers.

In 2010, she again wore the fantasy bra, Victoria’s secret bombshell fantasy bra which was worth $2 million.

In 2012, she got the distinction of being the only celebrity to ever star in two Super Bowl commercials in one game by starring in Super Bowl XLVI commercials for online flower service Teleflora and Kia Motors.
Awards & Achievements
Adriana Lima was ranked among top 100 on Askmen.com’s most desirable women for four consecutive years, 2002-05 and in 2012 as well.
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In 2005, she was listed as one of the World’s best-paid celebrity under 25 in the 2005 Forbes’ edition. In 2012, she ranked 8th in Forbes The world’s most powerful Latino celebrities list for earning more than $7 million.

In 2007, she received a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame before Victoria’s Secret fashion show. In the same year, she ranked 7th on FHM’s 100 sexiest women 2007 list.

In 2010, she was ranked 46 on the 50 most popular women on the web according to Google search results. Complex magazine ranked her 4th in the list of The 100 hottest supermodels of all time.

Personal Life

In June 2008, after nine months of dating, Adriana Lima got engaged to NBA player Marko Jaric. They got married the next year on St. Valentine’s Day. In 2014, they announced their separation. The couple has two daughters, Valentina Lima Jaric and Sienna. She dated Emir Uyar. In 2022, she announced that she was expecting a child with her boyfriend Andre Lemmers. In August 2022, she gave birth to a baby boy whom they named Cyan.

She is a devoted Roman Catholic and attends mass every Sunday. She is also a part of a charitable trust helping an orphanage located in Salvador. She helps with construction to expand the orphanage, and buys clothes for poor children.
Facts About Adriana Lima

Adriana Lima is fluent in four languages: Portuguese, English, Italian, and Spanish.

She has a black belt in karate and practices boxing to stay in shape.

Adriana Lima is known for her philanthropic work, supporting various charitable organizations over the years.

She holds the record for walking the most Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows in history.

Adriana Lima has a passion for cooking and enjoys experimenting with new recipes in her spare time.

See the events in life of Adriana Lima in Chronological Order

How To Cite

Article Title
- Adriana Lima Biography
Author
- Editors, TheFamousPeople.com
Website
- TheFamousPeople.com
URL
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/adriana-lima-3338.php

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