Very young, she had her first experience with marijuana and her mother was the one who encouraged her to be a model. She was so young that she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, but her mother spoke to a well-known photographer and took her first photographs, thus starting a career as a mannequin.
At just 17 years old, she became known as model and despite not complying with the stereotype of the model of those years, tall, thin, blonde and with light eyes, Gia manages to Wilhelmina cooper be impressed with his photos, his grace and enormous charisma, being incorporated into his agency Wilhelmina Models.
Quickly, she moved to New York and like many other applicants, she did a series of castings for various types of clients, who did not accept her very easily, but the agency to which she belonged made the industry fall in love with her and In just six months, her career took a huge ascent working with photographers like Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon Y Chris von Wangenheim, who asked Gia for her poses, which to date are references to follow in the modeling industry.
Gia posed for big magazines like Vogue, Glamor, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and became the image of Cover Girl, Giorgio armani, among other designers.
Despite being a highly sought after model, she only did a couple of runway modeling.
It is known that the young woman had some romantic relationships with men, but they say it was openly lesbian. Others have indicated that he was bisexual, indicating that his sexual orientation is, so far, a controversial issue.
Having such a liberal life and frequenting places like Studio 54 and The Mudd Club, made it easier for her to access drugs, since it was during that time that Gia began to frequently consume cocaine and heroin.
She continues with her life as a model and in 1978 she poses nude for Chris von Wangenheim behind a fence. This was his first big job and it was Posted in Vogue. At that time he met his photographer’s makeup artist, Sandy Linter, with whom he begins a sentimental relationship, quite passionate, publicized and very conflictive. This was Gia’s longest-lasting relationship and the one that kept her away from drugs the longest.
In March 1980, his agent Wilhelmina cooper, dies of lung cancer, a tragedy that affects the model a lot and that was highly reflected in her work. Gia was desperate and had constant anxiety attacks that affected the photo shoots. In addition, it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide the puncture scars on his arms and legs. She did not arrive on time, she disappeared and even fell asleep in the middle of the session.
Because of this she was fired by her own representative, but the fact that her relationship with Linter had also ended left her even more devastated.
He was in detox programs several times, but for one thing or another, he would quit and go back to drugs. Start a new relationship with the student Elyssa GoldenBut her family always thought she had a drug problem too, so Gia relapsed over and over again.
In 1981, another of her good friends would abandon her, photographer Chris von Wangenheim, died in a car accident, locking himself in the bathroom for a long time to inject himself with heroin.
Gaunt and with an image very distant from the one she had in the beginning, Gia decides to return to the world of fashion and contacts Monique pillard, who was in charge of Elite, where they must again do wonders to reduce their scars.
She makes a documentary for ABC, where she talks about drugs in the modeling world, but it was clear that Gia was disoriented, which led to believe that she was under the influence of cocaine.
He returns to a detox program but does not finish it and looks for his friend Francesco Scavullo, who gave her a cover in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1982. This would be her last job and one of the most controversial, since Gia posed with her arms behind her. Situation that generated many rumors and that indicated that the pose was due to the severe situation that his skin went through.
Later, nobody wanted to hire her in the United States, which leads her to South Africa where she is arrested for drug possession. His career had come to an end and he enters treatment at Eagleville Hospital in Pennsylvania. Later, she took film and photography classes, but her recovery did not last long as she steals money from her mother and leaves with her friend. Elyssa Golden to Atlantic City.
In this place, she turned to heroin, prostituted herself and was raped several times. Suffering from pneumonia, her mother admitted her to Norristown Hospital, where she was diagnosed with AIDS.
The little information about the disease that existed in those years, caused her to be transferred to Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, where her mother was with her day and night, prohibiting all kinds of visits.
The November 18, 1986, Gia passed away and her funeral was only family members, since her friends decided not to attend due to the secrecy of the mother to let her see her when she was hospitalized.