Simone Holtznagel: Heartbreaking backstory behind the surprising name of model’s baby daughter is revealed

Simone Holtznagel has revealed the unlikely late fashion icon who inspired her newborn daughter’s name.

The reality star model and her personal trainer boyfriend Jono Castano surprised those close to them when they named their daughter Gia last month.

Many assumed the couple would choose to name their daughter Charlotte in memory of Australia’s Next Top Model judge Charlotte Dawson – a great friend and mentor who died in 2014.

Instead, the pair say Gia is a nod to the supermodel Gia Carangi, who tragically died of AIDS in 1986.

Carangi became one of the most sought-after models in fashion and a fixture at the legendary nightclub Studio 54, after moving to New York in 1977 — but her life quickly unravelled.

Struggling to cope with her meteoric rise, she turned to heroin and battled addiction for several years.

In December 1985, she was diagnosed with Aids and died the following year as one of the first famous women victims of the disease.

Carangi’s life of tragedy played out on screen 12 years after her death, with a young Angelina Jolie taking on the role of the troubled model in the 1998 movie, Gia.

Jolie’s moving portrayal won her a Golden Globe appearing alongside Hollywood heavyweights Faye Dunaway, who played modelling mogul Wilhelmina Cooper, and Mercedes Ruehl who starred as her mum, Kathleen.

Mila Kunis also appeared as a younger version of Carangi, in one of her first-ever film roles.

The tortured model was one of the first openly gay fashion icons, who often visited DCA, a gay club in the city where she met Sharon Beverley, one of her first long-term partners.

Though Gia also had a few trysts with men, she identified as a lesbian.

In the film, one of her friends asks if she’s ever had sex with a man before. The model responds: ‘Yeah once. And I could have done that with a German Shepherd.’

Holznagel said the couple haven’t ruled out naming their next child after her late mentor Charlotte Dawson. 

‘Lottie was on our shortlist, so if we have another baby, it could be that,’ she told Stellar magazine.

‘After Charlotte passed away, I had a bunch of her clothes, including this Camilla kaftan. 

‘My mum’s bestie cut it up and made it into a baby blanket for me. She gave it to me at my baby shower and I bawled my eyes out, so that is super special.’