Editing Gia Carangi (section)

==Career==
After being featured in Philadelphia newspaper ads and being discovered by Sondra Scerca in Maurice Tannenbaum's hair salon,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rmo |first=Mares |title=Love and Friendship > Sondra Scerca |url=https://giacarangilivedhere.org/love-friendship/sondra-scerca/ |website=Gia Carangi Lived Here, Never To Be Forgotten}}</ref> Carangi moved to New York City at the age of 17, where she signed with [[Wilhelmina Models]].<ref name=Voguepedia>{{cite web|url=http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Gia_Carangi|publisher=Vogue.com|title=Voguepedia: Gia Carangi|access-date=February 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222020249/http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Gia_Carangi|archive-date=February 22, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Her first major shoot, published in October 1978, was with top fashion photographer [[Chris von Wangenheim]], who had her pose nude behind a chain-link fence with makeup artist Sandy Linter. Carangi immediately became infatuated with Linter and pursued her, though the relationship never became stable.<ref name=afterellen>{{cite web |url=http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/column/2005/12/backintheday.html |title=Back in the Day: Out on the Catwalk |first=Malinda |last=Lo |date=2005-12-13 |access-date=2007-05-28 |work=AfterEllen.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413062441/http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/column/2005/12/backintheday.html |archive-date=2010-04-13 }}</ref> By the end of 1978, her first year in New York, Carangi was already a well-established model. Of her quick rise to prominence, described by ''Vogue'' as "meteoric",<ref name=Voguepedia/> Carangi later said, "I started working with very good people, I mean all the time, very fast. I didn't build into a model, I just sort of became one."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phillymag.com/articles/thing-of-beauty/|title=Thing of Beauty|last=Fried|first=Stephen|date=November 1988|publisher=phillymag.com|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-date=April 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419021850/http://www.phillymag.com/articles/thing-of-beauty/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Carangi was earning half a million dollars in a year at the height of her career.<ref name=":0" />

Carangi was a favorite model of various fashion photographers, including Von Wangenheim, [[Francesco Scavullo]], [[Arthur Elgort]], [[Richard Avedon]] and [[Denis Piel]]. Well-integrated within the fashion world, she had the selection of several photographers, most notably Scavullo.<ref name=glbtqscavullo>{{cite web|url=http://www.glbtq.com/arts/scavullo_f.html |title=Scavullo, Francesco (1929–2004) |last=Rapp |first=Linda |date=2005-04-17 |work=glbtq.com |access-date=2007-05-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509062715/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/scavullo_f.html |archive-date=2008-05-09 }}</ref> Carangi was featured on the cover of many fashion magazines, including the April 1979 issue of ''British Vogue'', the April 1979 and August 1980 issues of ''Vogue Paris'', the August 1980 issue of ''Vogue'', the February 1981 issue of ''Vogue Italia'', and multiple issues of ''Cosmopolitan'' between 1979 and 1982.<ref name="Career Overview"/> During these years, she also appeared in various advertising campaigns for high-profile fashion houses, including Armani, André Laug, Christian Dior, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent.<ref name="Career Overview" /> At the height of her career, Carangi was most known in modeling circles by only her first name.<ref name="www.divamag.co.uk"/> During this time, she also appeared in the [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] music video for the single "[[Atomic (song)|Atomic]]".<ref>{{Citation|last=BlondieVEVO|title=Blondie – Atomic|date=2010-11-16|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O_WLw_0DFQQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/O_WLw_0DFQQ| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|access-date=2017-07-21}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.giacarangi.com/gia-carangi-in-blondies-atomic-video/|title=Gia Carangi in Blondie's "Atomic" Video {{!}} Gia|website=Gia|language=en-US|access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref>

A regular at [[Studio 54]] and the [[Mudd Club]],<ref name=andrejkoymasky>{{cite web|url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioc1/cara3.html |title=Gia Marie Carangi |date=2005-03-28 |access-date=2007-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404155854/http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioc1/cara3.html |archive-date=2007-04-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Carangi usually used cocaine in clubs.<ref name=carangiproject>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegiacarangiproject.com/bio_main.html |title=Gia Carangi: A Biography |access-date=2007-05-28 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521033817/http://www.thegiacarangiproject.com/bio_main.html |archive-date=21 May 2007 }}</ref> After her agent, mentor and friend [[Wilhelmina Cooper]], died of lung cancer in March 1980, a devastated Carangi began using drugs and developed an addiction to heroin.<ref name=carangiproject/><ref>{{cite book|last=Fried|first=Stephen|title=Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia|location=New York|publisher=Pocket Books|year=1994|pages=[https://archive.org/details/thingofbeautytra00frie/page/232 232, 234]|isbn=0-671-70105-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/thingofbeautytra00frie/page/232}}</ref> Carangi's addiction soon began to affect her work; she had violent temper tantrums, walked out of photo shoots to buy drugs, and fell asleep in front of the camera. Scavullo recalled a fashion shoot with Carangi in the Caribbean when "she was crying, she couldn't find her drugs. I literally had to lay her down on her bed until she fell asleep."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geoclan.com/style/articles/05/TheLifeandDeathofGiaCarangi.html |title=The Life and Death of Gia Carangi – self-referential? |publisher=Geoclan.com |access-date=2013-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311232233/http://www.geoclan.com/style/articles/05/TheLifeandDeathofGiaCarangi.html |archive-date=2010-03-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During one of her final location shoots for American ''Vogue'', Carangi had red bumps in the crooks of her elbows where she had injected heroin. Despite [[Airbrush#Photo retouching|airbrushing]], some of the photos, as published in the November 1980 issue, reportedly still showed visible needle marks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pollock|first=Griselda |author-link=Griselda Pollock |author2=Bal, Mieke |author2-link=Mieke Bal |title=Conceptual Odysseys: Passages to Cultural Analysis|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2008|page=97|isbn=978-1-84511-523-4}}</ref>{{sfn|Fried|1994|p=246}}

In November 1980, Carangi left Wilhelmina Models and signed with [[Ford Models]], but she was dropped within weeks. By then, her career was in a steep decline. Modeling offers soon ceased and her fashion industry friends, including Sandy Linter, refused to speak to her, fearing their association with her would harm their careers. In an attempt to quit using drugs, she moved back to Philadelphia with her mother and stepfather in February 1981.{{sfn|Fried|1994|pp=247, 252–253}} Carangi underwent a 21-day detox program, but her sobriety was short-lived.{{sfn|Fried|1994|p=256}} She was arrested in March 1981 after she drove into a fence in a suburban neighborhood. After a chase with police, she was taken into custody where it was later determined she was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. After her release, Carangi briefly signed with a new agency, Legends, and worked sporadically, mainly in Europe.{{sfn|Fried|1994|pp=262–261}}

In late 1981, although still using drugs, Carangi was determined to make a comeback in the fashion industry and signed with [[Elite Model Management]]. While some clients refused to work with her, others were willing to hire her because of her past status as a top model. Scavullo photographed her for the April 1982 cover of ''Cosmopolitan'', her last cover appearance for an American magazine.<ref name="www.divamag.co.uk"/><ref name="Career Overview"/> Sean Byrnes, Scavullo's long-time assistant, later said, "What she was doing to herself finally became apparent in her pictures. ... I could see the change in her beauty. There was an emptiness in her eyes."{{sfn|Fried|1994|pp=272, 274–275}}

Carangi then mainly worked with photographer [[Albert Watson (photographer)|Albert Watson]] and found work modeling for department stores and catalogs. She appeared in an advertising campaign for ''Versace'', shot by Richard Avedon. He hired her for the fashion house's next campaign, but during the photo shoot, in late 1982, Carangi became uncomfortable and left before any usable shots of her were taken.{{sfn|Fried|1994|p=284}} Around this time, Carangi enrolled in an outpatient [[methadone]] program but soon began using heroin again.{{sfn|Fried|1994|p=290}} By the end of 1982, she had only a few clients that were willing to hire her. Carangi's final photo shoot was for German mail-order clothing company [[Otto Group|Otto GmbH]] in Tunisia;{{sfn|Fried|1994|pp=275, 284}} she was sent home during the shoot for using heroin. She left New York for the final time in early 1983.{{sfn|Fried|1994|pp=293–294}}