Adriana Lima

Adriana Lima (1981- ) is a Brazilian supermodel. Among Brazilian models only Gisele Bundchen makes more money. Lima is best known as a model for Victoria’s Secret. She is one of its “angels”, one of its Perfect 10 models. In 2003 she opened its television show.

In North America she is better known than the president of Brazil or her home city of Salvador in Bahia.

She is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world. She has made the most beautiful lists of the likes of FHM, Maxim, People, AskMen.com and Spike TV. When she appeared on the cover of GQ magazine in April 2006 it became their best-selling issue ever.
She has blue-green eyes, light brown skin, dark brown or black hair, thick lips and great legs. She is 1.79 metres tall (5 foot 10). Her measurements are 86-58-90 cm (34-23-35 inches), giving her more of a figure than most high fashion models, who tend to be unnaturally thin. She is a mix of Portuguese, French, African and native Indian. In Brazil she is seen simply as white.

She looks hot – yet innocent. In 2006 she told GQ that, following her Catholic beliefs, she was still a virgin: “Sex is for after marriage. Men have to respect that this is my choice. If there’s no respect, that means they don’t want me.” She was first kissed at 17.

She has dated the likes of rock star Lenny Kravitz, the prince of Liechtenstein and baseball player Derek Jeter. She wants a man with a heart more than a man with style or money.

She is not only beautiful but rich. She makes about $4.5 million a year (360,000 crowns) – more than most people make in a lifetime.

She helps orphans in her hometown of Salvador. She has given money to clothe them and help extend an orphanage, Caminhos da Luz (“Roads of Light”). Her father had left her when she was little.

When she is not working she wears a T-shirt and blue jeans.

She loves to lie in the sun by the sea and read books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

She was discovered at age 13 while she was shopping in Salvador. She won Ford’s modelling contest for Brazil and in 1996 came in second worldwide. At age 16 she moved to New York and signed up with Elite, a modelling agency.

In the late 1990s she appeared in fashion magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire, but what got her noticed was when she appeared on a billboard for Vassarette in 2000 in Times Square in the middle of New York. She was wearing only black underwear.

That year she became the face of Guess? jeans. That made her name. From there she went on to work for Victoria Secret, Maybelline, Telecom Italia Mobile and Armani.

She has appeared on the runway for many different designers, like Vera Wang, Emanuel Ungaro and Ralph Lauren.

She appeared in “Yesterday is Gone”, a video by Lenny Kravitz.