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Gia Carangi's Most Iconic Fashion Moments (PHOTOS)

Gia Carangi's Most Iconic Fashion Moments
AP

Before Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, there was Gia.

Gia Carangi, one of the first supermodels of the late seventies and early eighties, broke barriers in the fashion industry for her outspokenness with her bisexuality, her unique looks—which were wildly different from the cookie cutter blond hair & blue eyed models who were popular at the time—and her willingness to take risks in front of the camera.

The dark-eyed brunette beauty was featured on the covers of numerous fashion magazines including British Vogue, Vogue Paris, American Vogue, Vogue Italia and Cosmopolitan.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-native was also muse to many designers who featured her in various ad campaigns including Armani, Christian Dior, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.

But arguably her most famous photo shoot was her breakout moment, when fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim had her pose nude behind a chain-link fence with makeup assistant Sandy Linter, in 1978. This would later become a famous scene recreated in the HBO movie "Gia," starring Angelina Jolie as the rebel model.

Unfortunately, the spunky model didn't have a happy ending. After a few years of drug abuse (and an infamous Vogue photo shoot which reportedly showed track marks on her arms), Gia was forced to stop modelling and died of AIDS-related complications on November 18, 1986, when she was just 26 years old. Carangi is thought to be one of the first famous women to die of AIDS.

To honour her birthday on Jan. 29, we take a look back at her most iconic fashion moments.

Vogue photo shoot

Vogue

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Photo shoot

Photo shoot

Vogue photo shoot

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan

Vogue Italia

Vogue photo shoot

Armani ad

The photo shoot that made her famous

Photo shoot

Photo shoot

Photo shoot

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