Gia Carangi

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Gia Marie Carangi (born January 29, 1960 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † November 18, 1986 there ) was an American model of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gia Carangi is often referred to as "the first supermodel " and is regarded as the forerunner of later supermodels such as Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer . Cindy Crawford was even called "Baby Gia" because of her great resemblance to Carangi.

life and career

Gia Carangi was born in Philadelphia as the daughter of Italian businessman Joseph "Joe" Carangi and his wife at the time, Kathleen. Her father ran several fast food restaurants, and her mother was of Irish and Welsh descent. Gia grew up with two older brothers and suffered from her parents' changeable relationship, which culminated in their divorce when Carangi was eleven years old. The documentary The Self-Destruction of Gia Carangi , published after her death, speculates about a possible sexual abuse of Gia by her father.

As a teenager, Carangi had a crush on David Bowie and imitated the singer with her appearance, even then she had a crush on women and sent flowers to loved ones.

1977, at the age of 17 years, Carangi moved from Philadelphia to New York City and began her career as a fashion model . By the end of 1978 she was one of the most sought-after models of her time and worked with outstanding fashion photographers such as Francesco Scavullo , Arthur Elgort , Richard Avedon and Chris von Wangenheim . Between 1979 and 1982 she appeared on the cover of the most important fashion magazines such as Vogue Paris (April 1979 and August 1980), American Vogue (August 1980) and Italian Vogue (January 1981), as well as on several issues of Cosmopolitan . Carangi created a new style of modeling through unusual new poses, facial expressions and gestures, which is imitated by many photo models to this day.

During her first big shoot with Chris von Wangenheim in October 1978, Carangi met the stylist Sandy Linter, with whom she later began a relationship. She was open to her homosexual or bisexuality .

Carangi was a frequent guest at the legendary Studio 54 and Mudd Club and came into contact with hard drugs. The death of her agent Wilhelmina Cooper in 1980 fueled her drug addiction. Due to her increasing dependence on heroin , she could hardly work professionally. She no longer came to photo shoots on time, rioted and even fell asleep in front of the camera. Clear puncture scars can be seen in photos in the November 1980 issue of Vogue . Her contract with the Ford Models agency was terminated after just three weeks.

Gia Carangi made several attempts at withdrawal that were unsuccessful. In March 1981 Chris von Wangenheim died in a car accident, another stroke of fate for Carangi. Her last cover picture, in the Cosmopolitan , was given to her by her boyfriend Scavullo in the winter of 1982. Since it relapsed again and again, the orders ultimately failed to materialize. Her addiction forced her to prostitution .

In the spring of 1986 she was admitted to a clinic in Norristown , Pennsylvania, with pneumonia . There it turned out that she was HIV positive. Gia Marie Carangi died of AIDS on November 18, 1986 at the age of only 26 .

Books and films

In 1993, Stephen Fried published a biography of Gia Carangis under the title Thing of Beauty . Her life was filmed in 1998 on behalf of the broadcaster HBO under the title Gia - Preis der Schönheit . The leading actress Angelina Jolie received a Golden Globe for the role of Carangis . The film shows the hard business of portraying beauty, which can lead to self-abandonment and an early death.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephen Fried: Thing of Beauty , p. 14, 2011, ISBN 1451676409 .
  2. ^ Paul Vallely: Gia: The tragic tale of the world's first supermodel. In: The Independent . September 10, 2005, archived from the original on February 9, 2010 ; accessed on November 18, 2011 .
  3. ^ Biography for Cindy Crawford (I) . In: IMDB.com . Retrieved May 28, 2007.
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ Linda Rapp: Scavullo, Francesco (1929-2004) . In: glbtq.com . Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 28, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.glbtq.com
  6. ↑ Malinda Lo: Back in the Day: Out on the Catwalk . In: AfterEllen.com . Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Carangi, Gia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carangi, Gia Marie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American supermodel
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1986
Place of death Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States