Gia carangi a biography

Before Peter Lindbergh immortalised Naomi, Cindy, Claudia, Linda, Christy, and Tatjana on the cover of Vogue in 1990, and launched them in their ascension to icon status, there was Gia.

Arguably the world’s first supermodel, Gia Carangi paved the way for Campbell, Turlington, and Crawford – with the latter billed ‘Baby Gia’ when she made her runway debut.

Gia’s life echoed the classic rags-to-riches story, only, eventually, the riches made way for rags again.

While her blue-collar background gave her an edge in the world of high fashion, and appearances on the runways of Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, and Armani saw her experience a meteoric rise to fame, behind the scenes all was not well.

Struggling to cope with the pressures of her new career, Gia turned to heroin, and, despite kicking the habit a number of times and staging multiple comebacks, in 1986 she died of Aids-related complication