From stardom to shadows, glamour, grit, and a runway tragedy

By Dahami P. Samarathunga

It was the year 2019 and it was one of my habits to visit the local library near my hometown here in Canada whenever I got a chance because, it was one of the quieter places in the city. I remember entering its empty hallways wondering when might have been the last time that someone may have set foot in there because for some reason, though I always felt welcome, there was always a sense of cold and emptiness around the place; as if it has accepted its fate of being unrealized and unnoticed.

During one of my visits, I was intrigued by a title of a book named “Thing of Beauty”, which at first seemed like a romance or some sort of a coming-of-age novel. But I was quite taken aback after carefully going through its faded brown pages with a taped back hardcover realizing it was a biography of “Gia Marie Carangi”, who was once dubbed one the most unstoppable forces in the fashion industry during the late ‘70s and early ‘80’s.

This biography, written by Stephen Fried , who described it as “The tragedy of supermodel Gia”, showing the eerie yet common affiliation between beauty and tragedy in a world which, as some believe, it could often go hand in hand. Gia was widely regarded as the world’s first supermodel, and though some might argue that models such as Twiggy or Janice Dickinson should also deserve to be in the picture, what made Gia such a clear standout seems to be a bit complicated.

She was born in 1960 as the third and youngest child of a family of five in Philadelphia. Her short life on earth resembled elements of a dramedy (drama/tragedy), from success at an early age, skyrocketed to fame, battle with drug addiction and a premature death. In a way, she was like a bird who didn’t really get a chance to spread its wings and fly high for long because it got caught up in the dance of the winds.

Many who knew Gia personally believed her troubled and fractured childhood played a significant role in her addiction and dependence on drugs later in life. As a child, she was often described as a beautiful, but shy girl who was close to her mother. Kathleen Carangi. Gia’s mother, ended her marriage with husband Joe Carangi who was accusing her of being unfaithful and she had enough of his emotional and physical abuse for years.

Many family members believed Gia took the break-up hardest due to her closeness to her mother, having a strained and somewhat difficult relationship with her father. She often said how she felt ignored and unloved by him, as he was always closer to her brothers. ‘I’d try to get his attention and he would reject me by putting me down, making fun of me, teasing me”, she wrote in one of her journals. “He would do this in front of my brothers, I felt like they were better than me and the only difference was they were boys”.

After the separation of their parents, Gia’s elder brothers took their father’s side with Gia being caught up in the middle. Though her father, brothers and family members were quick to put the blame on Kathleen for breaking up the family, Gia was the only one of three children who would still spend time with their mother on weekends when she was only 11-years old.

Gia got her start as a model after a local photographer took a picture of her dancing at a friends’ party in Philadelphia. Shortly after, she began to appear in several local newspaper advertisements, before finally heading for New York at age 17 with the hope of pursuing a career in modeling. Wilhelmina Cooper, a fashion mogul, and a former supermodel took her under her wing and signed her on to “Wilhelmina Models” after being amazed by not only Gia’s beauty, but also her wit and no-nonsense attitude.

After her first major photo-shoot being published in late 1978, Gia quickly became a favourite among many designers and fashion magazines. Vogue described her quick rise to the top of the industry as “meteoric.” She was constantly featured in top fashion magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan throughout late 1970s, and quickly became the face of luxury fashion brands such as “Aramani,” Versace”, “Christian Dior” and many more.

According to Gia, it was all due to not having to deal with any industry ‘vultures.’ “I started working with very good people, I mean all the time, very fast. I wasn’t built into a model, I just sort of became one,” she said.

By age 18, she was earning over 100,000 dollars annually with her modeling, redefining what it meant to be called a ‘supermodel’ at that time. And for a while everything seemed to go in her favour.

In 1980, Wilhelmina unfortunately died of lung cancer, which many believe was what led Gia to use drugs, later leading to severe addiction. Her depression eventually drove her into self-medication (mostly heroin). Wilhelmina was a mentor and mother figure to Gia throughout her career and losing her so suddenly left her heartbroken.

Some of Gia’s colleagues revealed that even though her sudden behavioral changes were noticeable, it was a different culture back then with many young people caught up in the slogan “live fast, die young and have a beautiful corpse.” Her hedonistic lifestyle often included drugs during a time of social, economic, and political upheaval.

Former supermodel Janice Dickinson once revealed her experience working with Gia stating, “she was not a mess like people made her out to be.” She also told a hilarious story on how they first met and started to bond with each other at a Giovanni Versace shoot when she saw Gia’s switchblade knife which she infamously carried around during some of her photo shoots.

Gia was also one of the first openly bisexual models in history. This was certainly brave on her part considering how many others in the industry from that era chose to keep their sexuality under wraps, believing it could potentially hurt their careers in the context of what was then accepted. Shortly after she began using heroin, many designers, magazines, and photographers began to complain of her behaviour, accusing her of being unprofessional. She would often be late to photo shoots and walk out during photo sessions.

But they often had to put up with it as Gia’s popularity showed no signs of waning. However, as time went by, Gia’s addiction was spinning out of control with her eventually developing a reputation as a ‘difficult worker’ in the industry. She was dropped from “Ford Models,” within weeks of being signed on despite her previous success. This sent her career in a downward spiral.

Many in the industry believed she had already blown her chances of remaining at its top as she was later forced to move back with her mother and stepfather in 1981. Even though she was constantly disappearing from home and had gotten into trouble with police a couple of times around then, she was still hopeful of a comeback. Though already blackballed in the modeling scene, interest in her remained due her former glory.

In one of her final television interviews, Gia said she had “a lust for life “and was hopeful about the future despite her addiction.” Though she claimed she had stopped using drugs and was completely clean at the time, it was later revealed to be untrue and affected an attempt to rebuild her somewhat tarnished reputation. However, she did eventually make a comeback in 1982, posing for the cover of “Cosmopolitan” – her last cover appearance for a major American magazine.

An assistants of her longtime collaborator/photographer Francesco Scavullo once mentioned how they felt something was not right saying, “What she was doing to herself finally became apparent in her pictures.”

Gia eventually quit modeling and was admitted to a rehabilitation institution around in 1984. Rob Fay, whom she was close to at Eagleville (Rehab) once said in an interview, “She was different from the other people I met there, she didn’t take any s*** off nobody.” Rob believed Gia had anger towards many things in life because, he knew she was deeply hurt inside. “She stuffed a lot of things down,” he said.

Rob was also one of the very few people who was aware of the sexual abuse she endured in the modeling industry. “She had a rough time with a lot of men in her life. There were times in NY when people just took advantage of her,” he revealed.

Months later Gia, hoping to get back on her feet, decided to move to a new apartment, instead of going back home. She started to apply for regular jobs and was later employed as a salesclerk at a local design store. One of her fellow workers once mentioned how she’d talk about her past occasionally.”She said she had been a model,” he said. “She said she used to be rich but she never said she was a big, famous model.” When her co workers were sirprised upon hearing her revelation, her response was, “Oh, yeah you’d be surprised, but I used to be like this and really beautiful.”

However, by the late 1985, Gia had begun to use heroin again and her condition was getting even worse as she would often go missing for days from her apartment, sometimes involving herself in prostitution to pay for her drugs. She was later admitted to Warminster General Hospital in Pennsylvania to treat symptoms of bilateral pneumonia, which was later revealed to be a complication from the transmission of HIV AIDS, from a contaminated needle due to drug use.

She was again admitted to hospital after being found on the streets severely beaten and raped by a man while she was sleeping outdoors on a mattress in the fall of 1986. She died a month later due to AIDS related complications.

According to her mother, Kathleen, her funeral was a quiet and private one without anyone from the industry

attending. Some of her former colleagues once revealed that most of them in the industry weren’t even aware of her death until much later. The very few who knew about Gia’s condition and demise were upset at her parents not allowing them to visit her at the hospital which made them choose to not attend her funeral.

According to some who were close to Gia in the modeling industry, she had an inherent understanding of how vile the industry could be and knew it wasn’t for the fainthearted. She didn’t seem to care much for the idolatry, praise, and attention she received, because she knew that in the end it was all temporary. But it was no secret that Gia’s short yet impactful career influenced and made significant changes in the modeling industry. It was she who changed the perception of what a super model should look like. Before her, blue-eyed, fresh-faced blondes looking like the girl next door dominated.

But with Gia’s debut in late 1970’s, her dark, melancholic, yet striking features quickly became one of the

most sought after looks in the industry. In late 1980s ‘Elite New York Agency’ signed on an aspiring

young model due to her uncanny resemblance to Gia. This quickly earned her the moniker “Baby Gia”.

She, as Cindy Crawford, later went on to become one of the most iconic models of her era. Cindy once

said in an interview that her resemblance to Gia allowed her to work with many iconic photographers.

“I always kind of feel like I owe a lot to Gia. People loved the way I looked so much like her. It reminded them of her, and that was like an opening like a foot in the door for me.’’ In 1998 Gia’s story was made into a movie, with Angelina Jolie playing the lead role earning her an Emmy nomination.

Gia had unresolved trauma stemming from her troubled childhood, abandonment issues and sexual abuse. “She was also one of those celebrities who met with a tragic end at such an early age.Apart from her battle with personal demons, she was unapologetically herself throughout her careerand this often reflected in her work.”

Iconic photographer Francesco Scavullo once fondly remembered why Gia was always one of his favourite models. “She doesn’t give you the hot look, the cool look, or the cute look,’’ he said. ‘’She strikes sparks, not poses.’’ This could be why almost 38 years after her death, Gia’s imprints, and influence are still persistent in the industry.