Gia's Clio

Source: Sacha Lanvin Collection. Model: Gia Carangi; Photographer: Stan Malinowski. I want to thank Sacha for the use of her Gia photos. I also want to thank her for a wonderful exchange of thoughts on what Gia means to us! Thanks, Sacha! 

Dear Fellow Fashion Blogger

Two years ago, I met Sacha Lanvin online. We quickly became great friends because of our shared interests in fashion photography and for our love of the late model Gia Carangi. It was during our first encounter that I learned Sacha wrote a book on Gia called Born this Way. I read her book with a great deal of interest and asked her questions along the way. She was most kind in responding to my many queries. I was able to spell out my feelings and thoughts on the book in a book review for Amazon (See  https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RDGAQSWUVH38Q?ASIN=1518834248. Note to the Reader: I draw passages from my book review for this blog post). Earlier this month, Sacha and I talked more about what Gia means to us. 

Source: Sacha Lanvin Collection. Model: Gia Carangi; Photograher: Arthur Elgort 

Sacha and I share a bond in that the Mediterranean world is close to our hearts.  Whereas my parents come from Greece, Sacha and her family come from Italy (Sacha resides near the town of Venezia). Sacha and I are also creative. As a teenager, I loved (and continue to enjoy) to draw. “When I was around thirteen,” she writes, “I started to develop an insane interest in writing short stories, … and novels inspired by the real-life of grandmother, who was born a few years before WWI.” (I find that connection to yesteryear fascinating. My parents have a treasure trove of letters and photos of my grandparents and great-grandparents. There is one photo of my paternal grandmother, for example, that is charming.) Sacha would go on to university to study law. The pursuit of a legal career, however, did not capture Sacha’s heart. “Instead of becoming a lawyer,” Sacha tells me, “I decided to embark in writing a real book. And this book had to be about Gia.”

Why Gia? It was Gia’s exquisiteness that “drew my attention,” says Sacha. “Her beauty is intensely real, and she had the potential to become an international sex symbol.” One can see her observation in Gia’s rapport with photographer Chris von Wangenheim and his wife, Regine Jaffry. “Gia had a crush on” Regine. This infatuation, Sacha commented, “created a sexual tension, and someone like von Wangenheim” failed “not …  to use this in his … photography.”  At the same time, Sacha notes that “they were both true artists.” Sacha comments that “Gia understood what Chris wanted from her to get the shots he had in mind. There was mutual respect between the two of them.” During our correspondence, Sacha mentioned Gia’s eyes. “Her eyes,” Sacha observes, “tell you the story of her life.” Moreover, she “was drawn even more to her personality.” She notes:

“…  Gia had the complete package. [Makeup artist] Joey Mills described her, ‘Gia was offbeat.’ And she possessed an inner world which was utterly complex to understand. Isn’t fascinating when a beautiful woman is also a mystery?”

It’s a beautiful question because it sheds light as to the volume’s title: Born This Way! It’s not about Gia’s lesbianism. It’s about notoriety and rule breaking. “Gia,” Sacha writes, “broke the rules …, unpretentiously.  She was just herself, and that was enough to” bring “her” to prominence.

Source: Sacha Lanvin Collection. Model: Gia Carangi; Photographer: Robert Farber 

 Sacha’s provides valuable insights as to Gia’s life.  It is a hopeful tome speaking “to” a “new generation” infatuated “by easy money, fame, and success.” Gia “understood” that “in life what” is important is “not only good looks, but” finding “a purpose.” In that effort, Sacha refuses to feed off the “awful articles about her … past, even from the major newspapers.” Sacha believes “you can't write whatever …  you want about” the dead; that is “ethically unacceptable.” Photographer Alexander “Sasha” Borodulin concurs. While “he did not agree with the way certain questions were presented,” Sacha said, “his replies were fabulous.” Borodulin yielded wonderful comments such as Gia having “a special kind of allure. … she had the kind of magnetism that caused everyone in the room to stop whatever they were doing when she walked in. Everyone fell in love with her” (Born This Way, pp. 17-18).  Tabloid journalism is alien to Sacha. She writes: “I was very happy when Gia's brother, Michael Carangi, to whom I mailed a signed copy of Born This Way, was satisfied by the way I wrote about his beloved sister. And I want to add: it is very sad that Gia's fans point a finger against Kathleen (Gia's mother). Gia loved her mother, and her mother loved Gia. Whatever happened in her family, is none of our business.”

“The stories her friends and colleagues shared,” Sacha writes, tells us that Gia “was funny, kind, loyal, unpredictable. She was true to herself; isn’t that a great quality?” Very much so! One can cite, for example how Gia “was like working with a young wild horse.” “Once I got used to working with her, I was spoiled,” noted Francesco Scavullo (quoted in Adam Vary “In Memoriam: A Beautiful Eye” Advocate, February 17, 2004). “Gia,” Scavullo cited in another example, was “my darling – old, young, decadent, innocent, volatile, vulnerable, and more tough-spirited than she looks” (quoted in Paul Vallely, “Gia’s Tragic Tale of the World’s First Supermodel” Independent, September 9, 2005). I was surprised when I read that photographer Albert Watson believed that Gia “was never a great model.” Sacha concurs in that “Gia was more like an actress.” Sacha writes that the reason why her photos “are timeless” is that Gia was able to transform “herself into the most beautiful women in the world.” Like Scavullo, Sacha asserts that Gia “did not take directions well. She used to do what she wanted.” Scavullo notes: Gia “strikes sparks, not poses. I have never known anyone so excitingly free and spontaneous, constantly changing, moving. … She’s like photographing a stream of consciousness” (quoted in Vallely, “Gia’s Tragic Tale”). While researching for this blog post, I found a photograph on Joseph A. Petrellis’ Facebook page. Gia gave this photo to him as a gift.  I love the inscription because it is a lovely example of “her persona.” It reads: “To Joe, a special man whom I hope stays in my life. Love you, Gia” (See Joseph A. Petrellis’ Facebook page).

Source: Sacha Lanvin Collection. Model: Gia Carangi; Photographer: Francesco Scavullo 

Borodulin talked about how “photography became an important pastime for Gia” (Born This Way, pp. 22-23). He talked about how Gia purchased a Nikon and instructed her as to “how to use the camera.” Suzanne Rodier told Sacha about how Gia “used to photograph homeless people in her neighborhood” (quoted in Born This Way, p. 23). Gia’s “talents were very much connected with people. She was empathic.” Sacha notes:

“She was able to reach out and help the people in need. … Bradley Burlingame, who died after he was interviewed for Born This Way, told that Gia could have been a great businesswoman. She was blessed with many talents. She was intelligent. Who knows, if she were still alive, what would have been of her. She had all the cards to have success, in many fields of life.”

Despite Gia being “blessed with many talents” she “was introduced to heroin by a person who worked in the fashion business.” It was sad when I read that “Gia had a huge appetite for drugs even before …  taking off into modeling.” When I read those rather melancholy passages, I felt like I was reading something out of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. It is about a young lad, who – to the exasperation of his family and teachers – cannot ascertain his theme in life. Sacha’s exchange of Gia e-mails can sometimes make me feel sad. “When you suffer inside, and to this day, no one can tell you exactly what the causes of her deep sadness were, using drugs can lead only to more trouble.” In Born This Way, model Juli Foster referenced that “there was just that something lacking. … Nothing really gave her pure joy because something was always missing there” (Quoted on p. 14). Back in December of 2016, I asked Sacha what intangibles in her life were absent. Sacha’s response was, “I wish Gia could answer this question.”

Source: Sacha Lanvin Collection. Model: Gia Carangi; Photographer: Francesco Scavullo 

I hope, dear Fellow Blogger, that you will take time to read Sacha’s exquisite book. You will not be disappointed!

Sincerely,

Gabe xoxo