The iconic Adriana Lima was born on June 12, 1981 in Salvador, Brazil. She was raised primarily by her mother, who worked as a social worker, in Brazil. In her childhood, she did not think of becoming a model, with her original career choice as a young girl being a nun due to her attending Catholic school for much of her education. However, she won many beauty pageants during elementary school. When she was fifteen, she entered a modeling competition with one of her friends and Lima was asked to officially enter the competition. Adriana came in first place in the competition and was named Ford’s “Supermodel of Brazil,” and went on to come in second place in Ford’s “Supermodel of the World” competition in 1996. 

When Adriana was about eighteen years old, she moved from Brazil to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. Very soon after she was formally signed as a model, her career took off. Marie Claire Brazil featured her on their magazine cover in September 1998, marking Adriana’s first magazine cover. She was also featured on multiple covers of Vogue, with her first being in September 2000. Her runway portfolio is one to be remembered–with names such as Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, and Christian Dior. Adriana also worked as a spokesmodel for Maybelline from 2003-2009, then again from 2014-2019. She was the global face of the brand, and appeared in the very first issue of their calendar. 

Victoria’s Secret is where Adriana Lima will forever be remembered the highest. She holds the spot as the longest-running Victoria’s Secret Angel, having walked from 1999-2018. The first runway show she walked in for the brand was in 1999, and she was contracted as an Angel in 2000. Since she began her career as an Angel, she has walked in eighteen runways and opened the show five times–2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. In 2012, she opened the show less than two months after giving birth. Not only has she dominated the VS runway time and time again, she has worn the luxurious Fantasy Bra, a piece worth millions and made of precious diamonds and jewels, three times throughout her career. Though she retired from her life as an Angel in 2018, she returned to the stage in 2023 in Victoria’s Secret newly branded show after their five year hiatus. 

Apart from her extraordinary, extremely memorable career as a model, Adriana Lima is a mother to two daughters whom she had with her ex-husband, Marko Jarić. Valentina Lima Jarić was born on November 15, 2009, and Sienna Lima Jarić was born on September 12, 2012. She has also appeared on a few TV shows, such as How I Met Your Mother (2007), The Crazy Ones (2013), and Ugly Betty (2008). 

Adriana Lima is known as one of the most iconic models of all time, especially within the Victoria’s Secret Angels universe. She has taken over the industry, and broken barriers to reach her level of success she sits at now.