Jarah-Evelyn Makalapua Mariano (born November 23, 1984) is an American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

best known for her appearances in the 2008 and 2009 ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted co ...

s'', as well as

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ...

Early life

Mariano was born in the city of Lihue on the island of Kauai in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. At the age of four Mariano relocated with her family to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where she was raised in the city of Mission Viejo with her two older brothers. At the age of 15 she was discovered in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

by a model scout, Corrie Caster. After graduating from

Trabuco Hills High School Trabuco Hills High School is a high school in Mission Viejo, California, United States. It is in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. Awards THHS has received: *2002 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Demographics The demogra ...

, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where she continued to model and attended

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...

as a full-time student, receiving her degree in Speech Communications with a Media Studies Concentration.

Career

Mariano has appeared in ads for Abercrombie & Fitch, MAC,

Armani Exchange Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

, Sephora, Roxy Quiksilver,

Redken Redken is an American hair care brand owned by L'Oréal Group under the Professional Products division. History The company was founded in 1960 by Jheri Redding and Paula Kent, thus the name, "Red-ken." Redken pioneered the "Scientific Appr ...

, H&M, Avon,

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

, Dereon, Levi's, Pac Sun and Rock and Republic, as well as numerous catalogs for

. She graced the April/May 2007 cover for ''Complex Magazines 5th Anniversary Issue and has appeared in fashion magazines such as ''Self'', ''Taiwan Vogue'', ''L'uomo Vogue'', ''Glamour'', ''Elle'', and ''Italian Vanity Fair''. She has walked in fashion shows in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and New York. Mariano made her ''

'' debut in 2008 and followed up this appearance in 2009. She appeared uncredited in the title sequence of the James Bond movie

Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...

in 2012. Mariano's television credits include Jay-Z's comeback music video "

Show Me What You Got "Show Me What You Got" is the lead single by rap artist Jay-Z from his album '' Kingdom Come''. Song information It is the first single from his "comeback" album '' Kingdom Come''. It was produced by Just Blaze. The song samples " Show 'Em ...

" and a cameo in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television series ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

'', several commercials for

, minor roles in Steven Spielberg's " Minority Report" and Hal Hartley's "The Girl From Monday", as well as a recurring role in " Rescue Me". In 2009, she appeared in the music video for "Love Again" and "Kiss Kiss Kiss (키스키스키스)" by experimental fusion music Korean group

Clazziquai Project Clazziquai Project (Hangul: ), also known as Clazziquai, is a South Korean electropop band that combines several genres including electronic music, acid jazz and house. The band's first short unofficial albums were released online in 2001, spre ...

Personal life

Mariano is of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

and

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawa ...

descent. She primarily resides in

and enjoys photography, cooking, yoga and surfing in her spare time.

References

External links

* *
Sports Illustrated 2008 Swimsuit Model PageJarah Mariano
at Cord Models {{DEFAULTSORT:Mariano, Jarah Living people American female models Pace University alumni People from Lihue, Hawaii People from Kauai County, Hawaii 1984 births American people of Korean descent American people of Native Hawaiian descent 21st-century American women