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, to African, Native Brazilian, and Swiss heritage.[citation needed] 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 who gave birth to Lima at the age of 18. Lima revealed that her father walked out on her family when she was six months old, but has been making recent attempts to reconcile.In late 2007, Lima revealed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that although she is her mother's only child, she has two half brothers, aged 7 and 11, 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 grandmother.
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.[citation needed] 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?
Lima continued to build upon her portfolio, doing more print work for Maybelline, as well as bebe, Mossimo, Armani, Bulgari, De Beers, FCUK, Intimissimi, Keds, Swatch, Versace, and BCBG. She also appeared on the covers and in the editorials of other fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Vogue, GQ, Marie Claire, Arena, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and many more. Her April 2006 GQ cover was the highest-selling issue that magazine for the year.She also appeared in the 2005 Pirelli Calendar and became the face of Italy's cell phone carrier, Telecom Italia Mobile, a move that earned her the nickname, "the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."
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.
NAME: Brooke Shields
NATIONALITY: American
HEIGHT: 6'
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Blue
BORN: May 31, 1965 in New York City
DISCOVERED: At age 11 months she was already modeling in Ivory Snow ads. When she was 12, Shields played a child prostitute in the controversial Pretty Baby, in which she appeared nude. She then proceeded to appear nude in The Blue Lagoon. After a series of unsuccessful films and a Princeton hiatus, she reemerged, all grown up, in a one-episode stint on Friends, playing a psycho fan. NBC booked her for her own sitcom, Suddenly Susan.
RÉSUMÉ: Brooke became very famous at a young age. When she was young she starred in such movies as: Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon. Her Calvin Klein ads featuring a 15-year-old Brooke cooing, "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins" became very famous. Since then she starred in TV series "Suddenly Susan".
KNOWN FOR: Was named "The Face of the 80's" by Time magazine (1981 cover.) Her famous Calvin Klein jeans ads ("Want to know what gets between me and my Calvins? Nothing.")
HOME: New York City.
SWEETIE: Was serious with Liam Neeson. Thay are no longer together. Brooke married Andre Agassi, a pro tennis player, on April 19, 1997 in Pebble Beach, California. They filed for divorce in Las Vegas April 1999.
QUOTE: "My first year in Hollywood was a virtual comedy of errors. I was told I was too tall, and too beautiful. I found myself being cast to play dead bodies and scantily clad bimbos." - Brooke Shields
source (www.newfaces.com)
NAME: Niki Taylor
NATIONALITY: American
HEIGHT: 5'11"
Supermodel Niki Taylor MEASUREMENTS: 34C-24-34
WEIGHT: 125 lbs
HAIR: Dark Blonde
EYES: Hazel
BORN: March 5, 1976 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is also where she grew up.
DISCOVERED: When she was 13 her mom sent pictures of her to agencies in Florida. One signed her and pretty soon she was doing shoots for French catalogues and magazines like Seventeen.
AGENCY: New York-IMG, Paris-IMG, UK-IMG.
INCOME: Made approx. $4 million (U.S.) in 1994. Her estimated worth in 2000 is $6.1 million. Her Cover Girl contract is worth $9 million. Earns about of $15,000 a day.
RÉSUMÉ: Models for Cover Girl in commercials, print ads, and billboards. Youngest ever model to be signed to a multi-million dollar contract (L'Oreal and, in Sept 1991, at age 17, Cover Girl). She is the youngest model to appear on the cover of Vogue. Niki made the cover of Seventeen when she was just barely 14 and had made her first million by 16. Has major modelling contract with Liz Claiborne. Owns own company Niki Inc. Has her own calender.
TATTOOS: Has a tattoo of a sun on her foot and two more tattoos on her buttocks. Has a dolphin tattoo on her ankle because she would have been a marine biologist if she wasn't a model.
HOME: Has apartment in New York City, Miami, FL, and an Idaho ranch owned by Matt's parents.
SWEETIE: Divorced from Matt Martinez, 24, a football player for the Miami Hooters. She now has a pro-hockey player (Panthers center) boyfriend, Rob Niedermayer.
EXERCISE: Her motto is "Catch it before it falls." She exercises four times a week with a trainer. She also does kick-boxing and yoga.
OTHER: Her sister, Krissy Taylor, who died at her home in July of 1995 at the age of 17 because of asthma, was also a top model. She has two twin sons named Jake and Hunter, both 3 years old. She (in a red sleeveless dress) and her sons (naked in her arms) appeared on the Feb '96 cover of Harper's Bazaar together with a pictorial inside.
source (www.newfaces.com)
NAME: Karolina Kurkova
NATIONALITY: Czech
HEIGHT: 5'10.5"
MEASUREMENTS: 33.5-23-34.5
WEIGHT: 120lbs
HAIR: Light blonde
EYES: Green
BORN: February 28, 1984 in Decin, Czechoslovakia to father Josef Kurka, a star basketball player.
DISCOVERED: By model agent Alessandro Bazzoni in 2000. She became famous when she posed for the cover of Vogue in Feb 2001 at age 17. She was one of the youngest models ever to grace the cover of Vogue.
AGENCY: Milan-Why Not, NY-DNA, London-Premier, Paris-City, Copenhagen-2PM
RÉSUMÉ: Dior, Celine, Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton campaigns. Modelled for Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta and Balenciaga. Victoria's Secret model. "Model of the Year" at Vogue Fashion Awards.
SWEETIE: Model agent Alessandro Bazzoni.
HOME: TriBeCa area of New York City.
KNOWN FOR: Being one of the new breed of supermodels.
QUOTE: "I don't really have a New Year's resolution to go on a diet or anything like that. I am who I am, and I don't want to be somebody else. Mother Nature made me the way I am, and I should be happy." -Karolina Kurkova
source (www.newfaces.com)
NAME: Natalia Vodianova
NATIONALITY: Russian
HEIGHT: 5'9"
MEASUREMENTS: 34.5-24.5-35
WEIGHT: 110 lbs
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Blue
BORN: 1982 in Gorki, Russia
DISCOVERED: At 15 Natalia left home to fend for herself by selling fruit in a market in the industrial town of Nizhniy Novgorod, 250 east of Moscow. At 17, she left Russia to try her luck as a model in Paris. At 19, she felt in love with the son of an English viscount, had his baby and three months later was starring in the YSL show. When they married, in a three-days extravaganza of a wedding, she was 20, he was 33.
"When I was 14 a boyfriend introduced me to a 'modeling academy' where we leaned things like how to say poetry, and never had any photographs taken. It was more like going for fun. When a scout from Paris came up, he told me, 'you are going to Paris, and you will do well, but only if you learn English in three months'." says Natalia.
AGENCY: NY-DNA, Milan-Why Not, London-Take 2.
RÉSUMÉ: Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Versus and Marc Jacobs campaigns. The face of Gucci's new perfume. Billboards for Swish Jeans (Italy) and ads for Miss Sixty and Moschino. Appears in film CQ.
KNOWN FOR: Her racy Calvin Klein ads.
HOME: New York City
SWEETIE: Aristrocrat, billionaire and contemporary artist Justin Berkley, with whom she had a one-night-stand that resulted in their son, Lucas.
Source (www.newfaces.com)
NAME: Elsa Benitez
NATIONALITY: Mexican
HEIGHT: 6'
MEASUREMENTS: 34-23-33.5
WEIGHT: 125 lbs
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Hazel
BORN: 1977 in Sonora, Mexico.
DISCOVERED: She got her modeling start after winning a model search in Costa Rica in 1995. Modeling gigs poured in for Elsa soon after, first in Mexico, where she started out her career, and then in the United States and Europe. In 1996, Elsa appeared on the cover of Vogue Italy three times -- in April, August and September.
AGENCY: Elite - New York City
RÉSUMÉ: Elsa has done major campaigns for Jones New York, Victoria's Secret, Dolce & Gabbana, Nine West, Valentino, J.Crew and Oscar de la Renta. She is the cover girl for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue 2001.
KNOWN FOR: Her sexy (lesbian-undertoned) Dolce & Gabbana ads.
HOME: New York City.
SWEETIE: Married to NBA star Rony Seikaly. They shot for American Vogue together.
OTHER: Has breast implants.
source (newfaces)
NAME: Gisele Bundchen
NATIONALITY: Brazilian
Gisele Bundchen Picture Gallery HEIGHT: 5'10"
MEASUREMENTS: 34-24-34 (on her comp card) 36-24-35 (according to Cosmo, March 2000).
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Blue
BORN: 1980 in Horizontina, Brazil.
DISCOVERED: At age 14 while eating a Big Mac with fellow classmates on a school trip. She later entered the Elite model competition and came fourth.
AGENCY: New York-Elite
INCOME: $5 million US in 1999 and $8 million in 2000. In 2000, for runway shows, Gisele commanded between $7,000. and $15,000. (paid by Tommy Hilfiger to make two turns on his catwalk) per hour. In 2003, the gorgeous Brazilian made $10 million. Gisele has a contract with Victoria's Secret that will make her $30 million between 2004 and 2008. Her current runway rate is $50,000-a-time - putting her at No.76 in the list of the world's biggest earners.
RÉSUMÉ: Has appeared on most of the major magazines covers in the past year. Models in ads for Ralph Lauren, Celine, Christian Dior, Michael Kors, Zara, Dolce & Gabbana, Bulgari, etc.
KNOWN FOR: Being the biggest, newest supermodel. Nicknamed "The Body".
Gisele Bundchen Picture Gallery HOME: She lives in Los Angeles with Leonardo DiCaprio, has a loft in Manhattan's celeb-studded TriBeCa neighbourhood and a country house near Woodstock, NY.
TATTOOS: A star on the inside of her left wrist. She got it after her first night in New York, when she couldn't find a star in the sky to help her pray.
SWEETIE: In late 1999 to early 2000 Gisele split with long-term love, model Scott Barnhill, for fellow countryman (and multi-billionaire) Joao Paulo Diniz. She has since moved on and has been dating Leonardo DiCaprio for several years. She has said that she will not marry Leo until he stops partying and going to strip clubs so often.
OTHER: Gisele has five sisters: Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Patricia (twin) and Rafaela. Gisele was awarded 'Model of the Year' by VHI and Vogue. Gisele is quoted as saying "You know, I'm a normal person is a business that's not so normal." She has a belly-button ring and is rumoured to have breast implants.
source (http://www.newfaces.com)