Gia Marie Carangi was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of fashion magazines, including multiple editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in advertising campaigns for such fashion houses as Armani, Christian Dior, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent.
After she became addicted to heroin, Carangi's modeling career rapidly declined. At age 26 she died of AIDS-related complications, believed to have contracted the disease from a contaminated needle, becoming one of the first famous women to die of the disease. Her life was dramatized in the television film Gia, starring Angelina Jolie, which debuted on HBO in 1998.