Gia Carangi, an American fashion model during the late 1970s and early 1980s, was considered to be one of the first supermodels.

Carangi was on born January 29, 1960 and she passed away on November 18, 1986. Carangi is thought to be one of the first famous women to die of AIDS.

She was featured on the covers of fashion magazines including Vogue on April 1, 1979; Vogue Paris on April 1979; American Vogue on August 1980; Vogue Paris on August 1980; Italian Vogue on January 1981; and several issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982.

After she became addicted to heroin, Carangi’s modeling career rapidly declined. She later became infected with HIV and died at the age of 26. Her death was not widely publicized and few people in the fashion industry knew of it.

Angelina Jolie portrayed the character of Gia Carangi in a biographical film in 1998.