The Transformation Of Adriana Lima From Childhood To 42 Years Old

Adriana Lima has been a mainstay of the modeling world since she made her runway debut for Anna Sui in 1997. Indeed, it's easier to name which fashion house, high-end brand, or magazine cover she hasn't graced in the subsequent quarter-century. The longtime Victoria's Secret model has been crowned as one of the most beautiful, most profitable, and most powerful supermodels of her generation.

As she enters her (shock! horror!) 40s, the Brazilian model is still as in-demand as ever. Following a brief career hiatus to focus on that thing called life, Lima returned to the fray in 2023 in her typically fabulous style; whether it was giving post-pregnancy fitness tips, clapping back at her detractors, or rejoining the brand that made her both famous and rich beyond her wildest dreams. With her comeback in full swing, what better time to trace her eventful journey from the outskirts of Salvador to the runways of New York Fashion Week and beyond.

Adriana Lima was born to social worker mother Maria and carpenter father Nelson in the Brazilian city of Salvador in 1981. But the latter didn't play any significant part in her life. Just six months after her birth, he left the family without any explanation and didn't make any efforts to reconnect until she was an adult.

But despite her dad's lack of emotional and financial support, she never wanted for anything. Thanks to her mom and grandmother who helped raise her, she learned to be grateful for what she had, a lifelong value they instilled within her. "[They] have always shown elegance, strength, and courage," she told Vogue Arabia. "Of course, I appreciated everything they did for me as a child, but it wasn't until I became a mother that I realized the work and sacrifice they put into keeping a happy and safe home."

Growing up in a strict Roman Catholic household, however, meant that Lima didn't get the chance to exhibit her flair for fashion until much older. Speaking to Vogue France about her teenage wardrobe, the supermodel said that even on the beach, she preferred to cover up. "I grew up in Brazil where the weather was warm and a good pair of shorts, a t-shirt and sandals was all you needed," she explained. "I like to think that my style has evolved since then."

A career in modeling wasn't something that a young Adriana Lima ever dreamed about. In an interview with Victoria's Secret, the Brazilian revealed that she was a studious youngster who spent most of her time buried in her books. You might be surprised to learn that she initially had plans to become a pediatrician before being lured in by the modeling world during her mid-teens.

Growing up, Lima was also rather shy and something of a tomboy: "I always wanted to do everything that the boys [were] doing. Playing football, climbing on trees, playing with cars." In fact, she only entered her first beauty contest to support her friend who didn't want to compete on her own.

Lima got her big break at just 15 years old when she was crowned the winner of Ford Models' search for the Supermodel of Brazil. Similar to how the Miss Universe pageants work, her win entered her into the Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest. Lima was the runner-up, earning a substantial cash prize from the competition, which showcases talent from 50 different nations. With this recognition and exposure from one of the top modeling agencies, her life path was forever changed.

Following her success in supermodel talent searches, Adriana Lima moved to New York in 1997 and bagged a contract with one of the Big Apple's biggest agencies, Elite Model Management. Pretty soon, her face was everywhere.

Later that same year, Lima made her debut on the runway when she was chosen for an Anna Sui campaign at New York Fashion Week, and she also landed an advertising job with Italian designer Anna Molinari. By 1998, Lima was gracing the front covers of magazines, her first being the September issue of Marie Claire. By the turn of the century, she had been chosen to adorn the cover of another style bible, Vogue, for both its Italian and Brazilian publications.

Speaking to The Cut in 2024, Lima revealed how she developed her signature runway strut in the era of the '90s supermodel. "I did learn the '90s-style walk when I first started — walking with the hands on the hips and moving them as much as you could," she remembered. "I still like the turns and not just a walk where you look straight ahead."

Adriana Lima's meteoric rise continued in 1998 when she was approached by lingerie powerhouse Victoria's Secret. She walked her first runway with the brand in 1999, and then a year later, the 19-year-old model was officially made an Angel.

In the years since, Lima was a huge representative for the brand. She went on to open five Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows, including in 2012 just two months after she had become a mom for the second time. She also joined the likes of Tyra Banks, Gisele Bündchen, and Heidi Kulm on the 2004 "Angels Across America" tour, and appeared alongside Bob Dylan in the company's 2004 "Angels in Venice" TV ad. In 2008, Lima got the chance to wear the famous Fantasy Bra – the $5 million piece boasted 3,575 black diamonds — and two years later, she sported another $2 million version, which reportedly took 1,500 hours to make.

Lima's work didn't go unnoticed, either. In 2017, analytics firm D'Marie used a combination of sales conversions, followers, and likes across various social media platforms to determine the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel of all time. Ahead of Alessandra Ambrosio, Taylor Hill, and Josephine Skriver, Lima was placed at number one.

It's fair to say that Adriana Lima was born with it. Indeed, she has worked with everyone from LOEWE to Louis Vuitton during her glittering modeling career. But there's no maybe about it: Maybelline remains the brand she's most synonymous with, having served as a spokesmodel for the make-up giant between 2003 and 2009 before reprising the role in 2014.

"I am proud to say that I am a Maybelline girl, and I look forward to the work we will do together," Lima gushed about the 2014 news in a statement (via Global Cosmetic Industry), which also coincided with returns for the likes of Jourdan Dunn, Christy Turlington, and Emily DiDonato. "The imagery is always beautiful and positive, which is what I admire most about the brand. To be a part of that again is a dream come true!"

Lima sure knows how to stay on brand, too. Even when she's not on official Maybelline duties, she's still happy to play the saleswoman. When asked about her favorite makeup by Into the Gloss, for example, she mentioned Color Sensational Clay Crush ("It's an earthy tone, but really sexy"), Maybelline Lash Sensational ("I like my makeup to feel girly"), and the Rock Nudes eyeshadow palette ("It's super natural — you can mix all of the colors and just look like you're glowing").

Adriana Lima may have spent time from 2001 to 2003 dating singer Lenny Kravitz, a man known just as much for his sexual prowess as his skills on the guitar. But in 2006, by which point she was also briefly been linked with baseball icon Derek Jeter, an interview inspired a fascination with Lima's sexual history.

When the topic of her Catholic faith and opinions on birth control and pre-marital sex came up during a chat with GQ, Lima seemed to take the interviewer off guard when she remarked, "Well, you know, sex is just for after marriage." After being pressed on the matter, the supermodel reaffirmed, "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."

Despite her clearly stated beliefs, Lima was subjected to more questions about sex. The interviewer went on to ask who she would rather sleep with out of George W. Bush or Bill Clinton ("Ohmigod. They're too old for me!"), or if she had any other opinions on sex ("I'm not very experienced, okay"). Lima's answers prompted the men's magazine to dub her the "World's Most Voluptuous Virgin."

After false starts with Lenny Kravitz and Derek Jeter, Adriana Lima found the one in 2008 when she got engaged to NBA player Marko Jarić. In the first sign that the Serbian shooting guard was something of an old romantic, he proposed to the supermodel on her 27th birthday.

The second sign was the date of their wedding a year later. Yes, the power couple tied the knot on Valentine's Day in an intimate Wyoming ceremony in front of their nearest and dearest. "We are so excited about our future together," Lima gushed to People shortly after the nuptials, adding that there were also plans to have a bigger bash in either her native Brazil or Jarić's Serbian homeland.

"Our life, we live in a honeymoon," Lima told People six months later. "I never saw myself being married. But after I met him, everything changed. I knew he was the one and I could see myself married with him and with a big family." The pair went on to have two children together, Valentina in 2009 and Sienna in 2012.

Forget Eli Manning, Ahmad Bradshaw, or anyone else who played in the game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. The person who stole the show at the 2012 Super Bowl was Adriana Lima, who popped up twice during the commercial breaks, the first ever celebrity to achieve such a feat.

Lima's first appearance of the night came when she waved a checkered flag in a cut-out bodysuit for Kia's new Optima model. When it came to advertising, she certainly had the desired effect. Sales for the Kia Optima subsequently went up 138.6% that month, while it was also voted the third-best commercial out of 55 on Facebook's Super Bowl Ad Meter.

In her other ad break appearance for the floral company, Teleflora, Lima gets ready for a night out as she looks lovingly at her bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day. Forbes, The Huffington Post, and ESPN all expressed their approval, with the latter writing that reminding male viewers of the impending Valentine's Day was a masterstroke. "Even smarter? Hire supermodel Adriana Lima to star in it," they added. The model had previously appeared as herself in episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Ugly Betty," and six years later, she made a cameo in "Ocean's 8."

In 2014, five years after they walked down the aisle together, Adriana Lima and Marko Jarić revealed that they were going their separate ways. Luckily, the split at least appeared to be an amicable one.

"We are grateful to be the parents of two incredible young daughters that we will continue to co-parent," they said in a joint statement issued to People. "We would greatly appreciate your respect for our family's privacy as we begin this delicate next chapter for all members of our family."

The next year, Lima began briefly dating Miami Beach boxing coach Joe Thomas and was even linked to pop megastar Justin Bieber, a rumor she was keen to quash when she appeared on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen." "Where did you read that?" she asked the host after Andy Cohen brought the Bieber gossip up. "I'm going to tell you this. Anybody below 6'7", you know how I call them? Friends."

Adriana Lima first started making the rich lists in 2005 when she appeared on Forbes' "The World's Best-Paid Celebrities Under 25" and placed 99th in the same publication's "Celebrity 100." By 2012, she earned enough to rank eighth on their "The World's Most Powerful Latino Celebrities" list. 

Her rise up the wealth ladder continued in 2015 when she was crowned the second best-paid supermodel. With an impressive figure of $9 million, the Brazilian finished joint runner-up alongside British supermodel Cara Delevingne on the Forbes list, with only Gisele Bündchen earning more over the previous year with $44 million. But Lima has raked in even higher numbers nearly a decade since.

Indeed, although she has slipped down to sixth in the supermodel rich list, behind Delevingne, Bündchen, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Chrissy Teigen, and Kendall Jenner, Lima — according to L'Officiel – earned $30 million between 2022 and 2023. Celebrity Net Worth reports that her net worth is an estimated $95 million. In an interview with CNBC, however, Lima explained that she's not in it for the money: "People are watching you and you become their inspiration. I really just want to put a positive message and try to show the real values, the most important values in life out there."

Adriana Lima wasn't just the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel of the 2010s, she was also the longest-running. Indeed, she enjoyed a full two decades and no fewer than 18 fashion shows with the lingerie company before finally hanging up those famous wings in 2018 at the age of 37.

An emotional Lima revealed the news on Instagram alongside a montage of her favorite moments with the company. She captioned the post (via Independent), "Dear Victoria, Thank you for showing me the world, sharing your secrets, and most importantly not just giving me wings but teaching me to fly."

That wasn't entirely the end of her affiliation with the brand, though. In 2023, she starred alongside modelling icon Naomi Campbell, Candice Swanepoel, and Gisele Bündchen in their Icons campaign. She was also chosen to front their new fragrance, Heavenly Eau de Parfum. "I'm so excited to be working with Victoria's Secret again, the brand has always been like family to me," the supermodel said in an official statement.

Adriana Lima's love life took another turn in 2021 when she began dating Andre Lemmers, a movie and TV producer whose credits include "Immortals" and "300: Rise of an Empire." Although Lima prefers to keep their relationship on the down low in interviews, she's not averse to opening up on social media. Lemmers can often be seen or heard helping out on Lima's TikTok account. 

You may remember how the couple went viral on TikTok after the supermodel uploaded a video featuring all the times her new beau had playfully scared her, only for her then to hand him a positive pregnancy test. She will occasionally post some loved-up pictures of the pair, like the celebratory snap she captioned (via E! News), "My forever twin soul mate, Happy Valentines Day. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN CHOCOLATE."

Just a year after they first started dating, the pair became parents together with the birth of son Cyan in 2022. The latest addition to their blended family — Lima and Lemmers both have two children from previous relationships — didn't stop Lima from maintaining her fashion career. After being recruited once again by Victoria's Secret in 2023, the supermodel told People, "I feel that as a woman, and still being in fashion — I'm 42 years old and a mom with five kids, so I feel that I'm still being celebrated in this stage of my life."

In 2023, Adriana Lima was appointed by FIFA as an official global fan ambassador ahead of the Women's World Cup. "Coming from a more than modest background and being a football fan, I am very thankful and honored to have been chosen," the supermodel said about the announcement. But not everyone shared her gratitude.

Ex-Australian vice-captain Moya Dodd questioned why someone with no affiliation with the sport had been selected for the role, adding on X formerly known as Twitter, "What will this ambassador represent to the large and growing population of aspirational women football players and fans who love the game because it shows us what empowerment and equality can look like?" Gen Dohrmann, the Women Sport Australia president, argued to The Guardian that athletes like Sam Kerr or Megan Rapinoe would have been a better fit instead of a supermodel.

FIFA also came under fire for choosing a representative who previously made controversial comments about dieting, the LGTBQ+ community, and the pro-life movement. For example, she was heavily criticized for describing abortion as a crime in that 2006 GQ interview. Lima's publicist issued a statement (via The New York Times) clarifying that "her position on many LGBTQIA+ and women issues has evolved and she is considered an ally."

Even Adriana Lima has to deal with internet trolls. In 2023, the supermodel felt compelled to answer those who made derogatory comments about her appearance following the birth of her third child, Cyan. Certain followers argued that the change in her look must have been down to cosmetic procedures. But the Brazilian soon put the record straight in straight-talking style.

"The face of a tired mom of one teenage girl, two preteens, a one-year-old learning to walk, and three dogs," Lima captioned a selfie in red text (via TODAY). "Thanks for your concern." The star had already been dealing with self-image issues as she explained in an interview earlier on that same year.

"Every day I have to remind myself, 'Listen, accept who you are. Accept your body,'" Lima told People while promoting Victoria's Secret's new fragrance. "It's a transitional body right now because I had a baby. So you just created life. It's such a big blessing. Every body has a different reaction with pregnancy and post-pregnancy. So you have to exercise every day, [practice] acceptance with changes. And I struggle every day."