Gia Carangi

Gia Carangi was in many ways the first: before her, fashion models did not achieve such dizzying success, such universal fame; before her, public figures, in the first place, women did not die from the "plague of the twentieth century." Gia's biography and career are so rich, changeable, scandalous, how bright, inaccessible and unique. Was Gia a phenomenon? Of course. But how did she manage to get the whole world and lose it so quickly?

No matter how the yellow press chews on the ups and downs of Gia, the fact remains: she became the progenitor of a series of supermodels, irresistible and adored idols of the 1990s: Cindy, Christy, Naomi, Claudia, El, Tatyana, Linda and many, many more famous beauties, which were after. For all representatives of this controversial and complex profession - the model - Gia was to some extent a role model. How did this difficult little thing grow and be brought up?

Gia Marie Carangi was born on January 29, 1960 in Philadelphia. Although the girl was a cheerful fidget, from a young age she grew up in an unhappy family. When Gia was 11 years old, her parents divorced, and the girl had to tear between two houses. In addition, the child was deprived of parental attention and any care from both ancestors.

Kathleen Carangi herself left the family, and returned many years later: she and Joe, the father of the family, reunited. But that was later. And when their baby needed them, their parents were only occupied with themselves. Gia was not the only child in the family, she had siblings. And from childhood, the girl felt superfluous in the family, because she did not feel the same attitude to herself that the boys received from her father.

Joe Carangi had his own business - managed a chain of eateries. It was at the counter of his father’s fast food that Gia’s first experiments in earning “bread” began. From the age of 17, Gia began to constantly work in her dad’s bistro, but her mother had different views on what her daughter should do.

From her youth, Gia was in great shape, although she did nothing special for this. The girl by nature had a charming face and sexy body. Kathleen Carangi was convinced that the future of her beautiful daughter is in the modeling business. So, Gia's mother began to make every effort to ensure that the girl switched from selling omelettes in her father’s diner to selling her own beauty.

Not knowing where to start, Gia got a job as a dancer in one of the nightclubs of her native Philadelphia. Realizing that there was nothing special to catch, the girl moved to New York, where she was waiting for a dizzying success.

In 1978, at the age of 18, Gia found herself in the Big Apple. There, she was immediately fortunate enough to meet Wilhelmina Cooper - a former top model in the past, and at that time - the owner of her own agency.

Gia signed her first contract and for the first couple of months she only got her hand in a new business for herself.

Soon another very important meeting took place: Gia met the photographer of the American Vogue, Arthur Elgort. This meeting resulted in acquaintance with other photographers Vogue and Cosmo - Francesco Scavullo, Marco Glaviano, Richard Avedon.

Wilhelmina Cooper became for Gia an almost fairy fairy godmother, because it was thanks to her assistance that the young model quickly rose to the top of her fame, and this happens very rarely in the modeling business.

Gia paved the way into the world of big fashion for brunettes: until her magnificent accession at the top of this pyramid, only blondes were held in high esteem.

• Height - 171 cm
• Chest - 86.5 cm
• Waist - 61 cm
• Hips - 89 cm
• Hair Color - Brown
• Eyes - Hazel

The key to success was the unique appearance of Carangi. And also her natural artistry, which she always included in front of the camera lens.

Gia really could live a long and beautiful life full of prestigious contracts and fashion shows. But her commitment to fashion, namely the trends of her time, which were prevalent among celebrities of the late 1970s - early 1980s, played a cruel joke with the girl.

Gia first appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine in 1978. Already in the next, literally for five months, Gia runs from one edition to another: Britain, France, America, admires the new star on the pages of Vogue. At the same time, she appears on the cover of the American Cosmopolitan. For one of her appearances in Cosmo, the supermodel posed in a yellow swimsuit. According to the results of the entire career of Karandzhi, this cover was called the best.

From 1980 to 1983, Gia will appear several times on the covers of these reputable fashion publications. But since the departure of the model from the agency Wilhelmina Models, dated in the spring of 1980, her entire career went downhill.

Gia had a unique figure, photographers adored her - they considered her very sensual in contrast to the modest models of that time. She did not make her way upstairs, she just got a dizzying success overnight. And so Gia spoiled very quickly.

She agreed only to the offers that she liked. Or canceled those that I already agreed to at the last moment. And she could have behaved in an absolutely unacceptable way on the set itself: she rolled tantrums in the midst of a photo shoot, once and completely - fell asleep. Photographers and managers began to suspect something was amiss.

People around for a long time assumed that Gia was addicted to the use of narcotic substances, but she did not immediately get into this business. In 1981, Gia confessed to her addiction, because she could no longer hide this: her behavior, appearance, traces of injections on her hands - everything spoke for itself. In that year, Gia turned to a specialized clinic for help; at that time, Gia had been using prohibited substances for about two years.

After treatment, Gia tried to get back to work. But it was almost impossible. In the clinic, the model could not get rid of its dependence. The first major disruption was caused by the loss of a loved one: in 1980, after an unsuccessful fight against lung cancer, Wilhelmina Cooper died. Then Gia for the first time finally “flew off the coils”, after which she had to admit her weakness.

And now, just a little while after Gia’s discharge from rehabilitation, she becomes aware of another loss for the supermodel - her close friend, photographer Chris von Wangheim, dies in a car accident. 1982 was the last year for Gia in the modeling business.

Dizzying fame and fabulous fees could not save Jia from the misfortunes that she was destined to survive. In addition to the heavy drug addiction, the model had to survive a painful fall from the top of the fashion pedestal, loneliness and emptiness - around and inside.

From childhood, Gia openly declared her homosexuality. Throughout her life, she could not build a serious relationship. Already at the edge of the abyss and at the end of her career, the model began dating a girl named Rochelle. Which was several years younger and also "sat" on drugs.

For all the time of successful work in New York, Gia could not make close friends - only insignificant friends and acquaintances. More precisely, Gia herself was very attached to people, but they did not reciprocate. Among the friends of the model were her make-up artist Cindy Linter, colleagues on the workshop - Janice Dickinson and Julia Foster.

Gia kept diaries all the time, from which one can understand how alone she was all her life. Model Julie Foster after the death of Gia released an autobiographical book, "True Hollywood Stories." In it, she talked about her friend.

When Gia went for rehabilitation for the second time, relatives and close models hoped that not everything was lost. Since 1983, Carangi has left the modeling business, returned to her native Philadelphia and was treated for addiction. But some time after the start of the course, she became ill, at first everyone thought that Gia had pneumonia. She was hospitalized with just such a diagnosis, and after an additional examination she was changed to “AIDS”. That was in 1986. Gia was already very struck by this ailment.

In the last months that Karandzhi spent in the hospital, she thought about faith and the younger generation. The model even wanted to make a documentary for teenagers, in which, by her example, she would show all the harm of forbidden substances. But she did not have time. Gia died on November 18, 1986.

Very colorful, albeit not in all historical details, tells about the life and fate of the supermodel the film "Gia", released in 1998. The role of the main character was brilliantly performed by Angelina Jolie, and episodes from Gia's childhood were filmed with the participation of Mila Kunis in the role of young Karanja.

Gia has become a kind of muse for Chris Won Wangenheim. The photographer was famous for his amazing black and white shots. Gia's famous photo shoot at the fence - his job. The frames in which the model is completely naked became famous. But they were preceded by doubles in clothes.One of these images is a beautiful bow, in which even today you can go out and be in trend.

Photographers loved to immortalize the unusual, atypical, boyish style that Gia demonstrated at the beginning of her career. Jeans and leather are street trends for all time. One photographer even compared the model with James Dean. By the way, from childhood, Gia seemed that a father who paid more attention to his sons would love her more if she were born a boy. At a young age, in connection with these experiences, Gia loved to dress in the clothes of her brothers. Probably, this is how her love for clothes “from a man’s shoulder” was born.

In the film adaptation of the biography of Carangi, Angelina shows no less amazing outfits than Gia herself in her photo shoots.

There is almost no match for the costumes in the film.

However, it should be noted that in every image of Jolie you can feel the atmosphere and style of that time.

Unfortunately, Gia lived in an era when photographs from celebrity personal life were not widespread. We do not have the opportunity to trace the style of clothing that Gia chose for her daily life. But we can admire the delightful images created for numerous photo shoots and advertising campaigns in which Gia managed to participate in the short two years of her brilliant career.

Gia Karandzhi looked equally organically in feminine dresses and in dresses a la dandy. Many trends of that time just returned to fashion: sweaters with a rhombus pattern, woolen cardigans, long pleated skirts, black lace, bomber jackets, Chanel-style costumes and much, much more.

By the way, the monophonic closed swimwear that Gia often demonstrated in her photo shoots is another trend that has returned to fashion from that time.

Although Gia disappeared from the covers of magazines as quickly as she burst into them, she will forever remain in our memory as an icon of style and a hero of her time.