Adriana Francesca Lima was born on June 12, 1981, in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. The blue/gray-eyed Brazilian beauty can attribute her exotic good looks to her French, Portuguese, Native-American, and Caribbean heritage. Her climb from obscurity to glam girl occurred after placing second in the Ford Supermodel of the World Contest at the age of 13. Three years later, she headed to one of the fashion centers of the world, New York, and signed with Elite Model Management. Once there, her modeling portfolio began to expand exponentially, after appearing in Vogue (Italy) in 1997, as well as Vogue (UK), I-D (UK), Marie Claire (Brazil), and Vogue (Italy) in 1998. Adriana also appeared in Vogue (U.S., Germany, UK) and Marie Claire (Italy) in 1999. Those who have not had the pleasure of seeing Adriana in a fashion spread may have caught her in advertisements for Anna Sui Jeans, bebe, Gasoline, Mossimo, BCBG, Keds, Guess?, and XOXO. In 2004, Adriana Lima received a lot of press when she appeared in a Victoria's Secret ad co-starring musician Bob Dylan, in which she's walking around Venice in nothing but lingerie, heels and a pair of wings -- it's for Victoria's Secret's "Angels" collection. Whether you have seen her in an ad, on the runway, or photographed by some of the world's greatest photographers -- such as Steven Meisel, Peter Lindbergh or Ellen von Unwerth -- Adriana Lima's beauty speaks volumes, which is why Adriana topped AskMen.com's list of the "Top 99 Most Desirable Women" in the world.
