Adriana Lima her career and personal life

Adriana Lima was discovered while shopping at a local mall at the age of 13. When Adriana Lima was 15 years old, she entered and finished in first place in Brazil's Ford Supermodel of the World Search. She subsequently entered the 1996 Ford Supermodel of the World contest and finished second place. Three years later, she moved to New York City, and signed with Elite Model Management. Adriana Lima’s modeling portfolio began to expand exponentially, appearing in numerous international editions of Vogue and Marie Claire. As for fashion shows, she has walked the catwalks for big-name designers such as Vera Wang, Christian Lacroix, Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, among others. Adriana Lima then became a GUESS? girl appearing on GUESS?' Fall 2000 ad campaign. She also appeared in the book 'A second decade of Guess? Images'.

In 2001, Adriana Lima starred in BMW short film, The Follow alongside actors Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, and Forest Whitaker. The film was directed by Hong Kong film director and internationally renowned auteur Wong Kar-Wai.

Adriana Lima continued to build upon her entry, doing more print work for Maybelline, bebe, Mossimo, BCBG and gracing the cover and editorials of more high fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Vogue, GQ, to name a few. Her April 2006 GQ cover was the highest-selling issue of the year. Her other notable works include the well-famed Pirelli Calendar 2005 and the face of Italy’s big cell phone carrier Telecom Italia Mobile where she became known as the "Catherine Zeta-Jones of Italy."

Adriana Lima is probably best known for her work with Victoria's Secret. She first graced the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 1999 and has appeared on subsequent shows ever since. Her most notable walk down the runway was in 2003, where she was the show opener. Adriana Lima had appeared on several television ads for the brand but her most memorable one, was appearing alongside the legendary rock musician Bob Dylan in 2003 Victoria's Secret Angel in Venice commercial which received both praise and criticism. She is currently a contract 'Angel' and spokesperson for the brand.

Adriana Lima is also a spokesperson for cosmetic giant Maybelline New York. She is the world's fourth highest paid supermodel as of 2007.

Adriana Lima is fluent in three languages—Portuguese, Spanish and English. In her free time, she loves reading a novel by her favorite author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Adriana Lima has admitted that she was shy around boys when she was younger, not receiving her first kiss until she was 17 years old. In an interview with GQ April 2006 issue, Adriana Lima told the magazine that she is a virgin. “Sex is for after marriage," she says. "They have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me."

Despite reports, Adriana Lima denied ever being engaged to rocker Lenny Kravitz and said that she and Kravitz are just friends. She has also been romantically linked to other celebrities in the past, including New York Yankees superstar, Derek Jeter and Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein.