Gia Carangi - Supermodel and Fashion design

May 19, 2012


		1 Introduction 2 Beginning 3 Rise 4 Fall 5 Death 6 Legacy 7 Magazine Listings 8 Designers and cosmetic firms she represented 9 See also 10 External links

Women's Health Supermodel and Fashion design

Gia Carangi

Wikipedia

Image:Gia_Carangi.jpg|right|thumb|Gia Carangi on the cover of Vogue Paris August 1980.
Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960 - November 18, 1986) was a top United States|US fashion model of the late 1970s and early 1980s, who suffered from drug addiction, later became HIV infected and was among the first women in the public eye to die from AIDS-related complications.

Miss Carangi, who was of Italians|Italian, Welsh people|Welsh and Irish people|Irish ancestry, was a prototype of the Cindy Crawford/Rachel Hunter/Elle MacPherson "Supermodel" era, who also appeared on the covers of several fashion publications of her time.

Fashion magazine covers featuring Gia include British Vogue (magazine)|Vogue April 1 1979, Vogue Paris April 1979, American Vogue August 1980, Vogue Paris August 1980, Italian Vogue January 1981 and several issues of American Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982.

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Beginning

"Gia", as she was known in modeling circles, moved from Philadelphia to New York City at the age of 18, and quickly rose to prominence, reaching international fame with such name magazines as Vogue and others. Gia was the favourite model of many distinguished fashion photographers including Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort and Chris von Wangenheim. She posed for photos in many countries world-wide and led a fast life. Her sexual orientation has been disputed: while some think she was completely lesbian, others point to the fact she had many relationships with males and call her bisexuality|bisexual.

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Rise

Image:Gia4.JPG|204|200|right|thumb|Gia on the cover of American Cosmopolitan.
Gia was immediately swept into the fashion world. She never went through the tough rejections that other models faced; she was considered a "rare Gemstone|gem" in the modelling business. Partly due to supermodel Janice Dickinson's success, a demand for more ethnic looking models was in. She was visibly striking, and was a hit with all the photographers. ???There???s only been maybe 3 girls in my whole career that have walked into my studio and I went ???wow???. Gia was the last who came in here and I said ???wow.?????? said top photographer Francesco Scuvallo. By the end of 1978, Gia had already rocked the fashion world at age 18. However, she was extremely Loneliness|lonely and still looking for stability in her life.

Gia was a regular at Studio 54, and Mudd Club, in which anyone who was anyone was seen. "We loved it," Janice Dickinson would later recall, "it was a place for us. A place where we could be with the beautiful, do drugs, be out of our minds and it all seemed normal." Gia began to develop a cocaine Drug addiction|addiction. Kelly LeBrock, a top model at the time, remembers the time she spent with Gia. ???Gia, when I was working with her, was still sort of in the beginning, still very fresh and lovely, I think drowning a little bit in her own success, but not anymore screwed up than anybody else was in the set.???

Image:Gia5.JPG|200px|left|thumb|Gia on the cover of French Vogue.
In October of 1978, Gia did her first major shoot with top fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim. Wangenheim had Gia pose nude behind a chain link fence, with makeup assistant Sandy Linter. She automatically fell in love. "She sent flowers to me, and she really sort of courted me, which I thought was adorable. Eventually I did go out with her. She???s the type of person at that time, and anyone who knew her at the time can tell you, if she showed up on your doorsteps and you opened the door and she got in your apartment she was there, that???s it,???

By January of 1980, Gia's surrogate mother and agent, Wilhelmina Cooper was diagnosed with lung cancer. Gia quickly turned to drugs to escape the harsh reality. Scuvallo remembers a distinct instance in which Gia was on a fashion shoot in the Caribbean. "She was crying, she couldn't find her drugs. I literally had to lay her down on her bed until she fell asleep." A month after she returned, Wilhelmina passed away at the age of 40.

To the world, 1980 was a great year for Gia in fashion. She was seen on covers of Vogue and Cosmpolitan, but behind the scenes she was a very angry and hurt person. She would have violent temper tantrums, walk-out of photo shoots and even fell asleep in front of the camera. In a 1980 November issue ofVogue, Gia's track marks from heroin can be easily seen. For three weeks, Gia was signed with Eileen Ford, but was dropped because she had little tolerance for Gia's behavior.

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Fall

In 1981, Gia dropped from the face of the fashion world. She had hopes of getting her life back together. She enrolled in a 21-day Substance-abuse rehabilitation|detox program. It is said at that time, Gia started dating a college student named Rochelle (her real name was Elyssa Golden - she used an alias when being interviewed by Stephen Fried for Thing of Beauty). The Carangi family and Gia's mother had always suspected that Rochelle had an abusive heroin problem, and brother Michael Carangi even recalls being offered some by Rochelle. With Rochelle by her side, Gia's recovery had failed. In 1981, she moved out of her mother's house and in with some friends, once again entering into a detox program.

Her attempt to quit drugs was shattered when news that good friend and fashion photographer Chris Von Wangenheim had died in a car accident. It is said that Gia locked herself in a bathroom for hours, shooting heroin. In the fall of 1981, Gia looked far from the top model she once was. However, she was still determined to make a comeback into the fashion industry. She contacted Monique Pillard (who was largely responsible for Janice Dickinson's career), and who was hesitent to sign her. ???She was sitting in my chair and I said, ???Gia, I want to represent you so badly and everything, but I hear a lot of negative stories about you.??? And I remember I asked her ???well, why are you wearing such a long shirt? Can I see your arms???? And she said ???No!??? And she held on to her shirt and she said to me, ???Do you want to represent me or not???????

For her second time, Gia received the harsh treatment she skipped last time. Nobody would book her. Desperate, she turned to good friend Francesco Scuvallo. She landed a Cosmo cover, a gift from Scuvallo. At that time, even he knew she had no career left. ???It made me very sad, I had a tough time that day because I really wanted it to be her best cover and it wasn???t; it just couldn???t be. No matter how hard I tried it just couldn???t happen. That wonderful spirit she had was gone, ??? says Scavullo. Many believe that Gia's arms were placed behind her back because of all the trackmarks; however Scavullo has denied the rumors. Shot in winter of 1982, it would be Gia's last cover.

Image:Gia2.JPG|275px|right|thumb|Gia's last cover, a gift from photographer Francesco Scuvallo.

In West Germany, a budding fashion industry was being created. Although seen as tacky by the designers from New York, Paris and Milan, the Germans were willing to pay 10,000 a week to shoot Gia abroad. However, no one in the states would book her. In the spring of 1983, Gia was caught with drugs in a shoot in Africa. Her career was over.

Gia moved back in with Rochelle, and after pressures from her family she entered a drug-rehabilitation program again at Eagleville Hospital. Another patient, Rob Fay became close to Gia. Although rumors among the other patients said that Fay was romantically interested with Gia, Fay claimed it was just a friendship. "She was really the only person I was real close to at the time."

After six months, Gia was released from the program. She moved back to Philadelphia, and it seemed as if she was getting her life back on track. She started taking classes in photography and cinematography. But, three months later, Gia had vanished once again, and had returned to Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City, and started shooting heroin again. She prostitution|sexually prostituted herself and was raped on several occasions. She soon became sick with pneumonia, and her mother came and checked her into a hospital.

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Death

She was diagnosed with AIDS, then a newly-known disease. As her condition worsened, she was transferred to Philadelphia's Hahnemann Hospital. Her mother stayed with her day and night, allowing barely anyone see her. By this time, AIDS had took a toll on her body, her once beautiful face was vanishing. "She wanted to get the hell out of there," recalled her mother, "but I kept having to tell her, that even if we made it as far as the elevator, she would be dead. And that's when I knew. I knew she'd never be able to come home."

On November 18, 1986 at 10 in the morning, 26-year old Gia Carangi died.

Her funeral was held on November 23 at a small funeral home in Philadelphia. Gia's mother and father did their best to contact people in Philadelphia and in New York. Some of Gia's Philadelphia friends opted not to attend, most because of their anger at Gia's mother, for not allowing anyone to see her. Nobody from the fashion world attended. However, weeks later, Francesco Scuvallo sent a Mass card when he heard the news. "We were hysterically crying in the studio when we heard," he recalled. "I loved her. I could cry now, just talking about her."

In April of 1988, Gia's mother, Kathleen, appeared on the morning show AM Philadelphia, after they aired a segment about AIDS. It was a move that shocked the family. Gia's father called Rochelle to let her know about the show. "I had run into him in the casino before that," she recalled. "He just gave me a big hug and a kiss and he started crying. He knew Kathleen. He knew she'd do anything to get on TV. She wanted to be the model, the superstar. Now she was doing it through Gia's death."

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Legacy

In 1986, Cindy Crawford was brought to New York by Monique Pillard. She was a sensation, but she knew little about the people who had paved the way for her ethnic looks. Had she had never received the nickname Baby Gia, Crawford would have had no idea about both Dickinson and Carangi, who set the way for ethnic looking models. "But I'm more wholesome" Crawford pointed out, "She was wild. Completely opposite me. She'd leave a booking in the clothes to buy cigarettes and not come back for hours." After a long pause, Crawford stated, "She's not living anymore."

A biography was published in 1993 by author Stephen Fried and a biographical film, Gia, debuted on Home Box Office|HBO in 1998 which helped bring her back to the public's attention. Angelina Jolie played Carangi in the movie.

In 1996, actress-screenwriter Zoe Tamerlis Lund|Zo?? Tamerlis (a.k.a. Zo?? Lund, Bad Lieutenant), herself a heroin addict who would die of drug-related causes in 1999, was commissioned to write a screenplay based upon Carangi's life. This version of Gia was not produced, but after Tamerlis's death, footage of her discussing Carangi's life was incorporated into a documentary entitled The Self-Destruction of Gia.

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Magazine Listings

American Vogue

10/78 Gia's Vogue debut.

11/78 Calvin Klein slip-dress with sunglasses.

1/79 Infamous fence shot by Chris von Wangenheim.

2/79 Desert shots by von Wangenheim.

5/79 Mexico shots with Janice Dickinson, shot by Mike Reinhardt.

9/79 Studio 54 shots.

10/79 Paris Collection shots.

2/80 Shot of Gia watering a plant.

3/80 Editorial precursors to Versace ads.

5/80 Francesco Scuvallo shots from St. Barts

7/80 Scuvallo's favorite shot of Gia.

8/80 Cover.

8/82 Last Vogue Shot.

Glamour

6/79

8/79

British Vogue

4/79 Cover.

French Vogue

3/79

5/79 Cover.

9/79 Christian Dior Boutique ads.

8/80 Cover.

Italian Vogue

3/79

1, 2, 3/80 Armani ads on the back covers.

4/80 Gia in a group Armani ad.

5/80 Versace ads.

2/81 Cover.

German Vogue

10/79 Piel collection shots, outakes from American Vogue.

4/80 Florida Shots.

12/83 Gia's last apperance in a fashion magazine.

American Harper's Bazaar

8/79

9/79

10/79

11/79

American Cosmopolitan

4/79 Cover.

7/79 Cover.

1/80 Cover.

7/80 Cover.

4/82 Cover, the gift from Francesco Scuvallo.

Italian Harpers Bazaar.

7-8/78 (double issue) Citicorp building.

9/78 Rome and Paris collections.

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Designers and cosmetic firms she represented

Body Basics

Christian Dior

Cutex

Diane Von Furstenberg

Giorgio Armani

Lancetti

Levis

Maybelline

Perry Ellis

Versace

Vidal Sasson

Yves Saint Laurent

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