The supermodel we know as the "Victoria's Secret Angel": Who is Adriana Lima?

Adriana Lima was born on June 12, 1981 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Her father is Nelson Torres, a carpenter, and her mother, Maria das Graças Lima, a social worker. Growing up in Salvador's Castelo Branco district, Lima was only taken care of by her mother when her father left the family when she was only six months old. Her family is of Portuguese, Native Brazilian, African, Japanese, Swiss, and West Indian descent. Lima describes herself as Afro-Brazilian.

Lima, who speaks English, Italian and Spanish in addition to her mother tongue Portuguese, would like to continue her career as a pediatrician. Despite this, Lima, who participated and won many beauty contests in elementary school, never thought of becoming a model. Lima entered the contest by submitting a photo with a friend who wanted to enter a modeling contest at school and didn't want to enter alone. Later, at the age of 15, she entered Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" model search and took the first place. Then, participating in the 1996 Ford Models World's Supermodel competition, Lima managed to come in second.

A year later, Lima moved to New York and signed with Elite Model Management agency. She made her runway debut with designer Anna Sui's New York Fashion Week fashion show in September 1997. Her first magazine cover came with the Brazil shoot of Marie Claire magazine in September 1998. The first Vogue magazine covers were made in September 2000 with Italian Vogue Gioiello on their 20th anniversary and Vogue Brasil the following month. Starting to take place on the podium of many designers, fashion designers and fashion houses as a model, Lima also had the opportunity to work with many famous people. Among them; there are names such as Rosa Cha, Blue man, Fashion's Night Out, Caio Gobbi, Fause Haten, Luca Luca,  Carmen Steffens, Cía Maritima, Agua Coco. Additionally,  Fendi, Emanuel Ungaro, Baby Phat, Giorgio Armani, Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Vera Wang, Valentino, Miu Miu, Givenchy, Versace, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Ralph Lauren, Escada, Christian Dior, Victoria's Secret , Prada, Louis Vuitton, such as well-known designers and fashion houses were included.

Adriana Lima is best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. Lima made her first Victoria's Secret podium in 1999, at the age of 17, and signed a contract as "Angel" in 2000. She has since featured on the brand's later shows. She inaugurated the brand's runway shows in 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Shortly after giving birth to her second child in 2012, she opened the brand's catwalk exhibition for the 5th time.

In 2000, the clothing company "Guess?" 's fall ad campaign, she also appeared in the book "A Second Decade of Guess? Images". She made her acting debut in BMW's The Hire series and the short film "The Follow" (2001), directed by Wong Kar-wai, with Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker. Continuing to develop and advance her portfolio, Lima was involved in further printing for the cosmetics company 'Maybelline', where she was the spokesperson from 2003-2009. Again that year, she took its place in the first calendar of the same company. At that time she also ran a series of advertising campaigns for the watch manufacturer 'Swatch'. Lima has also worked with many major fashion brands such as Armani, Versace, Elie Saab, Prada, LOEWE, H&M, Bulgari, Miu Miu, DKNY, Emporio Armani, Givenchy, Mossimo.

In 2004, Lima, along with Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Gisele Bündchen and Alessandra Ambrosio, became one of the 'five angels' to promote Victoria's Secret nationwide on the so-called "Angels Across America" Tour. Lima has appeared in several television commercials for the brand, including the 2004 commercial for "Angel in Venice" with Bob Dylan.

Announcing her name frequently and becoming famous for being on the podiums, Lima appeared in front of the camera for the covers and editorials of many magazines and newspapers. Among them; there are Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Interview, GQ, W, Esquire. In addition, thanks to these shoots, she has worked with the most famous photographers of the fashion world such as Annie Leibovitz, Juergen Teller, Bruce Weber, Vincent Peters, Mario Sorrenti, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. Thanks to Lima on the cover of GQ magazine in April 2006, it became the magazine's best-selling issue that year. In addition, it also managed to become one of the magazine's best-selling issues of all time. The magazine named Lima "The World's Most Sensual Virgin."

In 2006, Lima managed to become the fifth highest paid supermodel among other models. She was considered "the fourth highest paid supermodel in the world" by Forbes Magazine between 2007 and 2008. Thanks to Lima, who was also on the cover of GQ magazine in 2008, a record number of visitors entered the publication's website. Also featured in the 2005 Pirelli Calendar, Lima became the face of "Telecom Italia Mobile", Italy's mobile operator. Thus, Lima was nicknamed "Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy".

In February 2008, she appeared on the cover of Esquire magazine's 75th anniversary. In the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Lima appeared before the camera with only shoes, diamonds and gloves in the issue celebrating the 20th anniversary of supermodels with her Victoria's Secret Angels friends. That same month, she was chosen as the face of Mexico's Liverpool mall chain. That's why she took part in a press conference, runway show, and a summer campaign. She also guest-starred in the episode "The Yips" of the CBS comedy series "How I Met Your Mother" in November 2007.

Additionally, in 2008, Lima starred as herself in the American television series "Ugly Betty" and befriended the show's lead character, Betty Suarez. Lima's 2008 solo Victoria's Secret's "Super Bowl XLII" commercial was watched by 103.7 million viewers, making it the game's most watched commercial.

At the height of 2008, Lima walked the runway for the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show wearing the "Fantasy Bra". Created by American jewelry designer Martin Katz and valued at more than $5 million, the bra is set with precious stones such as black diamonds, white round diamonds and rubies.

Returning to the high fashion catwalk in 2009, Lima took the podium for luxury fashion and perfume house Givenchy. Additionally, she became one of the faces of the brand in the Fall/Winter 2009 season. In April of the same year, she made an agreement with the chips brand Doritos to appear in print campaigns and television commercials in Turkey. In 2010, she took the catwalk by wearing the "Fantasy Bra" called the Victoria's Secret Bombshell Fantasy Bra. The bra, valued at $2 million, was adorned with 142 carats of white diamonds, topaz and sapphire stones.

In 2012, Lima, the face of Donna Karan's spring 2012 ad campaign, was accused of making racist overtones for a photo of her posing in front of local Haitians. In the same year, she became the face and spokesperson of the Turkish clothing company 'Mavi Jeans'. After the inclusion of Lima, the sales of the brand increased by 50%, along with the advertising campaigns. In addition, the television commercial, which was watched by 28 million people, managed to become a trend topic in the Twitter application. Due to the success rate of the company, the Mavi brand decided to make Lima the global face of the brand within its European and Russian branches.

In February 2012, Lima became the only celebrity to appear in two Super Bowl commercials in one game. These; it was for the online flower service "Teleflora" and the automaker "Kia Motors", which was watched by more than 200 million viewers. After the Super Bowl commercial, the auto brand promoting the new Kia Optima saw sales hit the highest level since the design's launch.

For the second time, Lima is included in the 2013 Pirelli calendar, breaking the record for being the first pregnant woman. In July 2013, Spanish fashion brand Desigual announced that Lima will be the face of the brand at Barcelona Fashion Week Spring-Summer '14. In the same year, she became the third highest-paid supermodel with her earnings, according to Forbes magazine. The following year, she continued to make a name for herself as "the second highest paid supermodel in the world" with her earnings. In 2013, she appeared with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar in the TV series "The Crazy Ones" with her Victoria's Secret Angels friends.

In June 2014, she returned as a spokesperson for cosmetics brand Maybelline New York. She has also been chosen as the new face of designer Jason Wu's Fall/Winter 2014 campaign. Later that year, she appeared in front of the camera with Karolina Kurkova in the campaign of the Swiss luxury watch brand "IWC".

The following year, she appeared as the face of "Decadence," a fragrance for the brand Vogue Eyewear and designer Marc Jacobs. In the same year, she continued to be the second highest-paid supermodel in the world with her net income. In April 2016, Lima posed as the face of the Swimwear collection of Italian lingerie brand "Calzedonia". She was later selected by NBC as the channel's food and culture correspondent for the 2016 Summer Olympics, along with Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio. In July 2016, the Victoria's Secret brand launched its own line of sports bras, "Victoria Sport". In commercials for the series, Lima appeared with Elsa Hosk, Romee Strijd, Jasmine Tookes and Josephine Skriver.

In January 2017, Lima appeared before the camera with the ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2017 campaign for the Italian brand "Sportmax". That same month, Lima was named the "most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel" according to the results of the analysis company "D'Marie", which conducted a study. Lima hosted and executive produced the American reality competition show "American Beauty Stars", which premiered on Lifetime on September 23, 2017.

The following year, she was the brand ambassador of the German company "Puma" and the Brazilian shoe and accessories brand "Schutz". In November 2018, Lima walked for the last time at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show after appearing on 18 different runways for the Victoria's Secret brand. In 2018, Lima made a cameo appearance as herself in the heist comedy film "Ocean's 8". In 2019, Lima appeared as the face of the Maybelline x Puma collaboration for the "Schutz resort 2019" campaign. For this she was featured in a "Palms Casino Resort" commercial with others including Cardi B and Rita Ora.

In 2023, Lima was recognized by FIFA as the Global Fans Ambassador for that year's Women's World Cup with the aim of "developing, promoting and participating in global initiatives".

Personal life

In 2001, Lima fell in love with American singer Lenny Kravitz. The couple, who lived together, also decided to get engaged. But the couple was able to continue until 2003, after which they decided to separate. In 2009, Lima married basketball player Marko Jarić on Valentine's Day. The couple has two daughters. The couple announced their separation on May 2, 2014 and divorced in March 2016. In 2021, Lima began a relationship with filmmaker Andre Lemmers. On February 18, 2022, Lima announced that she was expecting her third child and their first baby with Lemmers. The couple had a baby boy born in August 2022.

Saying that she is a Roman Catholic, Lima also stated that she wanted to be a nun before she became a model. In addition, Lima, which takes part in campaigns and funds organized for many institutions, organizations and associations in various categories, also provides support in terms of material-spiritual, time and effort.

Lima was featured in the 2005 edition of Forbes magazine's "World's Best Paid Celebrities Under 25" list. In 2012, she was ranked eighth on Forbes magazine's "World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrities" list. Lima was listed on People magazine's "100 most beautiful people in the world" list. She announced this before the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show with Angels, where she was co-starred in the Hollywood "Walk of Fame". In the same year, she appeared at number 7 on FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women of 2007" list.

In 2012, Complex magazine placed her at #4 on their "100 Hottest Supermodels of All Time" list. On October 6, 2015, it was announced that Adriana Lima will have her own wax figure at "Madame Tussauds New York." This would be the first Victoria's Secret Angel and second Brazilian figure to join the Tussauds star cast, and the wax figure was unveiled on November 30, 2015. In March 2019, she was honored with the Fashion Icon Award at the Daily Front Row Awards. Lima in 2021, "HOLA! USA" she was included in the "Latina Powerhouse Top 100" list by  magazine as one of the "Changemakers".