Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima are not relatives, despite recurring searches that place their names together. Their connection is professional: both became internationally recognized models, represented major beauty and fashion brands, and shared the Victoria’s Secret runway across several stages of their careers.
Lima emerged during the era of televised fashion shows, long-term ambassador contracts, and global magazine campaigns. Hadid rose more than a decade later, as social media, celebrity culture, and direct audience access changed what fashion companies expected from a model. Their careers offer a clear view of how the idea of a supermodel developed from the late 1990s into the 2020s.
Through 2025, Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima appeared in five traditional Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows together: 2015, 2016, 2018, 2024, and 2025. Their shared appearances linked one of the brand’s longest-serving Angels with a younger model who became a defining fashion personality of the Instagram era.
Who Are Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima?
Gigi Hadid is an American model, television personality, creative director, photographer, and fashion entrepreneur. Her full name is Jelena Noura Hadid. She was born on April 23, 1995, in Los Angeles, California, making her 31 years old as of August 2026.
Adriana Lima is a Brazilian model best known for her long association with Victoria’s Secret. She was born on June 12, 1981, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She is 45 years old as of August 2026.
The two women are separated by almost 14 years and entered fashion under very different conditions. Lima built her international reputation before social media became part of modeling work, while Hadid’s rise occurred when public personality, online following, street style, and celebrity coverage had become commercial assets.
They are not sisters, cousins, or members of the same family. They have also never publicly described themselves as close private friends. Their visible relationship is based mainly on shared runways, brand work, backstage interactions, and professional respect.
Gigi Hadid’s Early Life and Family
Gigi Hadid grew up in Southern California. Her father, Mohamed Hadid, became known as a real-estate developer, while her mother, Yolanda Hadid, worked as a model before later appearing on reality television. Gigi’s younger siblings, Bella Hadid and Anwar Hadid, also entered modeling.
Hadid began appearing in Baby Guess advertising as a small child after being discovered by designer Paul Marciano. Her early modeling work did not become a full-time childhood career. Yolanda Hadid has explained that she wanted her daughter to have a more ordinary upbringing that included school, friendships, sport, and family life.
Gigi attended Malibu High School, where she competed in volleyball and rode horses. After graduation, she moved to New York and began studying criminal psychology at The New School. Her modeling schedule soon expanded, and she placed her studies on hold to pursue fashion professionally.
Her family background gave her early exposure to modeling and entertainment, but it did not remove the demands of the industry. Hadid has spoken about attending castings, facing criticism about her body, and learning how to perform for different designers rather than relying only on name recognition.
Gigi Hadid’s Career Breakthrough
Hadid signed with IMG Models and made her New York Fashion Week debut in 2014. Her career accelerated quickly through runway appearances for designers including Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Versace, Miu Miu, Balmain, and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Her commercial work developed alongside high-fashion bookings. She became a Maybelline spokesperson in 2015 and appeared in campaigns for Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, Stuart Weitzman, Reebok, and other international brands. She also accumulated dozens of international Vogue covers and received the International Model of the Year honor at the 2016 British Fashion Awards.
Hadid’s timing helped distinguish her career. She entered fashion as Instagram was becoming central to promotion, casting, and celebrity communication. Brands valued her runway ability, but they also valued her large audience and the attention generated by her clothes, family, friendships, and public appearances.
Her collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger expanded her work beyond traditional modeling. The Tommy x Gigi collections placed her name directly on clothing and accessories, while giving her experience in product development, branding, and promotion.
In 2022, she founded Guest in Residence, a cashmere clothing company for which she serves as creative director. The business marked a new stage in her career because it gave her responsibility for a brand rather than making her only the public face of someone else’s company. She has described the label as focused on durable pieces that can be worn repeatedly and passed between generations.
Hadid has also worked in television. She co-hosted the second season of Netflix’s Next in Fashion with designer Tan France, adding presenting work to a career that already included modeling, photography, design collaboration, and business ownership.
Adriana Lima’s Early Life and Entry into Modeling
Adriana Lima was raised in Salvador, Brazil. Public accounts of her childhood describe a modest upbringing, though detailed information about her wider family has remained limited. She did not grow up inside the international fashion industry and entered modeling through competitions.
As a teenager, Lima won Ford Models’ Supermodel of Brazil competition. She later placed second in the agency’s international contest, helping her secure representation and move into professional modeling. She relocated to New York and began building a career through editorial shoots, runway bookings, and commercial campaigns.
Her early work appeared during a period when models depended heavily on agencies, editors, photographers, and brand contracts for public visibility. Social media did not yet give models a direct route to millions of followers, so recognition was built through repeated appearances in magazines, advertisements, fashion shows, and television campaigns.
Lima’s appearance, camera presence, and performance style helped her move from promising newcomer to internationally recognized model. She worked with companies and designers including Maybelline, Guess, Versace, Prada, Givenchy, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, Chopard, Puma, and Calzedonia.
Adriana Lima and Victoria’s Secret
Lima made her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show debut in 1999 and became an official Victoria’s Secret Angel in 2000. She remained associated with the Angel title until 2018, giving her the longest tenure among the models identified with the brand’s classic era.
Adriana Lima and Victoria’s Secret
Her runway style became one of the show’s most recognizable features. Lima used strong eye contact, theatrical gestures, deliberate pauses, and an energetic walk designed for television cameras and large audiences. She opened the show several times and became a central figure in the company’s advertising and public events.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was more than an ordinary runway presentation during Lima’s peak years. It was produced as a television entertainment event with musical performances, elaborate costumes, celebrity guests, and heavy promotion. That format helped turn Lima into a public figure known far beyond editorial fashion.
Her association with the company also included wearing its Fantasy Bra, a highly publicized jeweled lingerie piece assigned to selected models. Such appearances reinforced her position within the brand and made her one of the names most closely linked to its image.
Lima’s original Victoria’s Secret tenure ended emotionally in 2018. The show honored her with a video reviewing her career, followed by a solo walk and a standing ovation. She appeared visibly moved, and the moment was widely presented as her farewell to the runway that had defined a large part of her public life.
The farewell did not end her modeling career. Lima continued working in campaigns and selected fashion projects before returning to the revived Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2024. In 2025, she completed her 20th appearance in the company’s traditional runway show.
Their Shared Victoria’s Secret History
Gigi Hadid joined the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2015, when Lima was already one of its most experienced performers. Hadid’s debut represented entry into a production she had followed before becoming a major model herself.
They returned together for the 2016 show in Paris. That edition also included Bella Hadid, making Gigi and Bella the first sisters to walk in the same Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Lima remained part of the senior group whose experience helped define the event’s pacing and performance style.
Their 2018 appearance carried a different meaning because it was Lima’s farewell show. Hadid publicly expressed admiration for Lima and Candice Swanepoel, acknowledging the influence of established Victoria’s Secret models on the generation that followed them.
After the annual show was discontinued, Victoria’s Secret revived its traditional runway format in New York in October 2024. Hadid opened the presentation in a pink look with large wings, while Lima returned after her widely publicized 2018 departure. Their presence helped connect the revived event with both its older audience and the fashion culture of the 2020s.
They appeared together again at the 2025 show. By that point, the dynamic had changed: Lima was no longer making a one-time comeback, and Hadid was no longer the young newcomer beside her. Both had become established figures capable of drawing attention across generations.
Were Both Women Official Victoria’s Secret Angels?
Adriana Lima was an official contracted Victoria’s Secret Angel from 2000 until 2018. The title referred to a selected group of long-term brand representatives who appeared in advertising, promotional events, campaigns, and runway productions.
Gigi Hadid has worn wings and has often been called an Angel in informal media coverage. However, she was not publicly established as holding the same long-term Angel contract that Lima held during the company’s earlier system.
Hadid is more accurately described as a recurring Victoria’s Secret runway model and prominent participant in the brand’s fashion shows. The distinction matters because walking in the show did not automatically make every model a formally contracted Angel.
Relationships, Children, and Private Life
Gigi Hadid was in a long-term relationship with British singer Zayn Malik. Their daughter, Khai, was born in September 2020. Hadid and Malik later separated, and they have maintained their daughter’s privacy by limiting public images of her face.
Hadid has discussed the practical demands of co-parenting while managing modeling work and Guest in Residence. Her exact custody arrangements and other private family matters have not been publicly confirmed in full and should not be reconstructed from speculation.
Adriana Lima was married to Serbian basketball player Marko Jarić from 2009 until their divorce was finalized in 2016. They have two daughters, Valentina and Sienna.
Lima later had a son, Cyan, with film producer Andre Lemmers. She has shared selected parts of her life as a mother while keeping many family details private. In 2026, she appeared with Valentina and Sienna in a Victoria’s Secret Mother’s Day campaign, marking the daughters’ first professional photo shoot together.
Net Worth and Income Sources
Neither Gigi Hadid nor Adriana Lima has released a verified public statement of her current net worth. Online figures should therefore be treated as estimates rather than confirmed financial records.
Hadid’s income has come from runway fees, beauty and fashion campaigns, magazine work, television appearances, design collaborations, licensing arrangements, and her ownership interest in Guest in Residence. The private value of that company, her personal investments, taxes, debts, and contract terms are not publicly known.
Lima’s earnings have been built through long-term ambassador agreements, Victoria’s Secret work, beauty campaigns, runway appearances, endorsements, and international advertising. Published estimates have often placed both women among the higher-earning models of their respective eras, but exact current totals cannot be independently confirmed.
Comparisons between their finances are especially unreliable because their business structures differ. Hadid has moved into company ownership, while Lima’s best-known earnings came from long-running contracts and endorsement work whose terms were private.
Public Image and Industry Influence
Lima became a symbol of the highly produced, television-driven supermodel era. Her long Victoria’s Secret tenure gave audiences time to recognize her walk, expressions, and public personality across repeated annual appearances.
Hadid represents a later model of fame. Her work reaches audiences through runways and campaigns, but also through social media, personal style coverage, interviews, television, and her own clothing company. She has greater control over direct communication with followers, though that access has also exposed her to constant public scrutiny.
Both women have faced criticism focused on appearance and body changes. Hadid has spoken about being judged for both gaining and losing weight, while Lima has faced intense commentary surrounding pregnancy, motherhood, and her return to public events. Their experiences show how rarely successful models are allowed to age or change without public analysis.
Their shared runways should not be framed as a rivalry. There is no verified public feud between them, and their careers are difficult to compare as though they began under equal conditions. Lima’s achievements rest heavily on longevity and long-term brand identity, while Hadid’s career combines modeling with entrepreneurship and digital influence.
Recent Work and Current Status
By 2025, Hadid had become more selective about modeling than during the busiest years of her early career. Guest in Residence remained a central focus, and she continued appearing in major fashion campaigns, editorial shoots, and high-profile runway events.
Victoria’s Secret confirmed Hadid for its 2026 fashion show in Los Angeles. As of August 5, 2026, the company had not publicly confirmed Lima as part of the announced 2026 cast, though its lineup was still being released.
Lima remained professionally active in 2026. Her Victoria’s Secret Mother’s Day campaign with her daughters showed that the company continued to use her as a major brand figure beyond the runway.
Neither woman has announced retirement. Their careers have instead shifted toward selective work, family responsibilities, business interests, and projects that draw on the reputation each built during a different period of fashion history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima related?
No. Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima are not sisters, cousins, or members of the same family. Their connection comes from modeling, shared brand work, and several Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows.
Are Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima friends?
They appear to have a warm professional relationship and have shown mutual respect in public. Neither has confirmed that they are close private friends, so their relationship is best described as friendly and professional.
How old are Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima?
Gigi Hadid was born on April 23, 1995, and is 31 years old as of August 2026. Adriana Lima was born on June 12, 1981, and is 45 years old.
How many Victoria’s Secret shows did they walk together?
They appeared together in five traditional Victoria’s Secret Fashion Shows through 2025: 2015, 2016, 2018, 2024, and 2025.
Was Gigi Hadid an official Victoria’s Secret Angel?
Hadid was a recurring runway model who wore Victoria’s Secret wings, but she was not publicly confirmed as holding the same long-term Angel contract as Adriana Lima. Lima was an official Angel from 2000 to 2018.
Who has had the longer modeling career?
Adriana Lima has had the longer adult international career. She began professional modeling in the 1990s, while Gigi Hadid’s full-time rise began in the early 2010s.
What are Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima doing now?
Hadid continues modeling while running her cashmere brand, Guest in Residence, and was confirmed for the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Lima remains active in fashion and advertising, including a 2026 Victoria’s Secret campaign with her daughters.
Conclusion
Gigi Hadid and Adriana Lima became famous under different versions of the modeling industry. Lima’s career was built through long contracts, televised spectacle, and years of association with a small group of global brands. Hadid developed her profile in an era that asked models to become media personalities, collaborators, and business owners.
Their shared Victoria’s Secret history gives their names a lasting connection, but each woman’s career stands on its own. Lima represents unusual longevity in an industry that often replaces models quickly, while Hadid has shown how fashion visibility can support creative and commercial work beyond the runway.
Neither story is finished. Their recent work suggests that both are choosing how to remain visible without repeating the pace or professional roles of their earlier careers.
Together, they show that supermodel status has never depended on one fixed path. It changes with media, business, age, and culture, but lasting recognition still comes from consistent work and a public identity that audiences remember.
