Adriana Lima

Adriana Lima Biography

Adriana Francesca Lima was born on June 12, 1981, in Salvador, Brazil. The blue/gray-eyed beauty can attribute her exotic good looks to her French, Portuguese, Native-American, and Caribbean heritage. While her heritage may be a mix, her beauty and success are crystal clear. Like her Brazilian counterparts Gisele Bundchen and Ana Beatriz Barros, Adriana hails from a small town, a far cry from the glamorous life she inhabits today. She is best known for her modeling work with Victoria's Secret and Maybelline.

Her climb from obscurity to glam girl occurred after placing first in Ford's "Supermodel of Brazil" competition and second in the Ford Supermodel of the World Contest.

Adriana signed with Elite Model Management at the age of 16, and moved to one of the fashion centers of the world, New York. Once there, her modeling portfolio only began to expand exponentially, after appearing in Vogue (Italy) in 1997, Marie Claire (Brazil), and Vogue (Italy) in 1998. Adriana has also appeared in Vogue (US, Germany, UK), and Marie Claire (Italy) all in 1999.

As for fashion shows, the Vogue girl has walked down the runway for the following designers: Cynthia Rowley, Vera Wang, Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Betsey Johnson, Girls Rule, Richard Tyler, Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Randolph Duke, Ralph Lauren, and Valentino, just to name a few.

But one of Adriana's most notable catwalk appearances was in the Victoria's Secret Summer 2000 Swimwear Catalogue (shot in Cannes), where the Brazilian beauty shared the spotlight with a bevy of supermodels such as Heidi Klum and Laetitia Casta.

Her other notable works include the well-famed Pirelli Calendar 2005 and the face of Italy's big cell phone carrier Telecom Italia Mobile. She is - for the second time - featured in the Pirelli calendar by setting a record of being the first pregnant woman to be ever featured in the calendar for the 2013 edition. In 2013, she ranked as the third highest paid supermodel according to Forbes.

In 2010, Adriana Lima wore the Fantasy Bra, called the Victoria's Secret Bombshell Fantasy Bra. The bra weighed 142 carats with 60 carats of white diamonds and 82 carats of topazes and sapphires worth 2 million dollars. She wore the fantasy bra again in 2014, along with Alessandra Ambrosio, with each bra valuing $2,000,000.

In 2007, Lima was chosen to be a part of People magazine's 100 most beautiful people in the world list. That same year, she ranked 7th on FHMs "100 Sexiest Women 2007" list. In 2010, Lima was ranked No. 46 on the 50 most popular women on the Web according to Google search results.