The turbulent childhood of Gia Carangi
Gia Marie Carangi, better known as Gia Carangi, was born in Philadelphia on January 29, 1960. She is the daughter of Joseph Carangi, a restaurateur son of Italian immigrants and Kathleen Adams, a housewife of Irish origin. She already has two brothers, Michael and Joseph Jr.
When Gia was only 11, her parents divorced. According to Gia di lei about her di lei the cause and domestic violence by her father di lei against her mother di lei. Instead, her father and brother Michael claim that the divorce occurs due to Kathleen’s relationship with another man she met in high school, who becomes her husband di lei a year after her divorce di lei in 1982.
Little Gia continues to live with her father and siblings, spending her childhood and adolescence without a family reference to guide her. Perhaps this is precisely the reason that pushes her to use drugs, especially heroin.
Already in the period of adolescence, Gia shows her homosexuality by courting her classmates.
The mother finds out by finding a letter from a girl who has always refused Gia. Her mother di lei has always been against her daughter’s sexual orientation di lei and this refusal contributed to the decline of the young girl’s life di lei.
During the school period he approaches a group of David Bowie fans with whom he shares this passion. Together with these girls he imitates the transgressive style of the well-known singer.
In the film Gia – A woman beyond all limits , her entire story is told thanks to the excellent interpretation of the actress Angelina Jolie.
At the age of 15 she meets Sharon, 6 years older than her, in a club in Center City and falls madly in love with her. Gia’s mother drastically opposes the relationship because she is convinced that drug use is the cause of her daughter’s sexual orientation di lei. She forces Gia to undergo a drug test which is positive.
Repeated attempts by Gia’s mother to end the relationship between the two girls are in vain.
The beginning of Gia Carangi’s brilliant career
Gia’s career in the fashion world begins when a photographer notices her in a club and decides to include her in the business. This photographer has contacts with Wilhelmina Cooper , who summons Gia to New York.
The girl tells Sharon about her transfer and asks her to follow her out of town. Sharon is not very enthusiastic about the proposal and also Gia discovers that Sharon is bisexual. All this cools their relationship. Despite this estrangement between the two girls, Sharon follows Gia to New York.
Gia signs a contract with Wilhelmina Models and in a short time has great success. Meanwhile, Sharon lives with her di lei and studies to become a professional make-up artist.
In 1978, the supermodel does her first photo shoot with fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim, who decides to have her pose naked behind a wire mesh with assistant makeup artist Sandy Linter. Following this photo shoot, Gia falls in love with Sandy and starts courting her. The two women become lovers but the relationship ends in a short time.
In that period Gia Carangi was the favorite model of the most important fashion photographers of the time, such as Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon, Denis Piel, Marco Glaviano and Chris von Wangenheim himself.
The success of this model and the naturalness with which she poses in front of the camera. This is also due to the fact that the girl has never attended any modeling school and her success di lei is the result of her di lei only her innate talent di lei.
He is the protagonist of many advertising campaigns for the most prestigious fashion houses, such as Armani, Christian Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.
The decline and drug addiction
At that point, the proposals from the fashion houses quickly diminish and Gia is isolated from her friends.
In November 1980 she left Wilhelmina Models and signed for Ford Models , which soon discarded her due to her private problems.
In order to detoxify, he returns to Philadelphia with his mother and stepfather in 1981. He undergoes the 21-day detox treatment, but without satisfactory results.
Gia later learns that her friend and fashion photographer, Chris von Wangenheim, has died in a car accident. Upon hearing the unpleasant news, Gia locks herself in the bathroom and takes drugs until she feels bad.
She was arrested on March 22, 1981 in Philadelphia, when under the influence of alcohol and cocaine she ran over a fence with her car.
After this story, he worked for a short time with the Legends agency but with poor results.
Gia’s retirement from the fashion world
Several times Gia tries to reassert herself in the fashion world but always with unexciting results. She initially contacts Monique Pillard who decides not to hire her, then she turns to photographer Scavullo who manages to get her a contract with Elite Model Management.
While some clients don’t want to work with her, others want to hire her at all costs because they are intrigued by her career as a supermodel.
Her latest work is the one for Francesco Scavullo who photographed her for the April 1982 cover of Cosmopolitan.
His latest photo shoot is for the German company Otto Versand in Tunisia. On that occasion she was expelled from the set because she was discovered to be using heroin.
He leaves New York in early 1983.
The death of Gia Carangi
In the last years of her life she is linked to Elyssa Golden. In 1984 the two women moved to Atlantic City. Her family and her partner push Gia to hospitalize and undergo a new drug detox program. During her rehabilitation period, experts manage to help her and also discover that Carangi has suffered a lot of violence in the past, both physical and psychological.
After the resumption, he worked for a short time in a clothing store, later on other jobs but in 1985 he started taking drugs again . Meanwhile, she leaves the house where she lives with her partner because she no longer feels loved. She then returns to her mother’s home showing her usual problems of hers.
In June 1986 she was admitted to Warminster General Hospital in Warminster, for bilateral pneumonia.
A few days later she was diagnosed with ARC, the pre-AIDS syndrome. Shortly thereafter, her health conditions deteriorate and she is transferred to Hahnemann University Hospital on October 18. She is her mother di lei and the only one who has always remained with her Gia and she does not accept any visits, not even those of her daughter’s partner.
Gia died of complications associated with AIDS on November 18, 1986 at the age of 26. She is one of the first famous women to die from this virus.
