After being featured in Philadelphia newspaper ads and being discovered by Sondra Scerca in Maurice Tannenbaum's hair salon, Carangi moved to New York City at the age of 17, where she signed with
Wilhelmina Models. 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. 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", Carangi was earning half a million dollars in a year at the height of her career. 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. A regular at
Studio 54 and the
Mudd Club, Carangi usually used cocaine in clubs. 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. 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." 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
airbrushing, some of the photos, as published in the November 1980 issue, reportedly still showed visible needle marks. 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. Carangi underwent a 21-day detox program, but her sobriety was short-lived. 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. 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. 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." Carangi then mainly worked with 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. Around this time, Carangi enrolled in an outpatient
methadone program but soon began using heroin again. 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 GmbH in Tunisia; she was sent home during the shoot for using heroin. She left New York for the final time in early 1983. ==Death==