About
Karla Paloma Jiménez Denagustin—known professionally as Paloma Jiménez—is a Mexican model and occasional actress who balances runway poise with an insistence on privacy. Born on August 22, 1983, in Acapulco, Guerrero, she first gained industry attention after fronting back-to-back covers of Maxim Mexico in 2005 and 2006. Campaigns for brands such as Coca-Cola, Pantene, and Honda soon followed, and her statuesque 5’10” (1.78 m) frame became a familiar sight at Latin American fashion weeks. Outside fashion circles, Jiménez is widely recognized as the long-time partner of actor Vin Diesel, with whom she shares three children, yet she keeps her own public profile deliberately low, declining social-media accounts and limiting interviews.
Before Fame
Growing up on Mexico’s Pacific coast, Jiménez spent her childhood between sandy beaches and bustling street markets, absorbing a laid-back coastal vibe that later informed her easygoing style. Teachers recall a quiet student who doodled garment sketches in the margins of her notebooks, and by her late teens she was traveling to Mexico City for open calls. There she signed with ID Model Management and later with Look Models and Two Management, agencies known for grooming Latin talent for international runways. Early commercial breaks came quickly: a soft-drink billboard in downtown Mexico City and a national TV spot for Honda put her name in casting files, while catwalk turns for designers such as Roberto Cavalli Latin America and Alberto Rodríguez cemented her reputation at home.
Trivia
- Screen cameos: Before focusing solely on modeling, Jiménez appeared on the popular Mexican variety show Otro Rollo in 2004, testing the waters of on-camera performance.
- Language skills: Fluent in Spanish and conversational in English, she helps their children move comfortably between Hollywood press junkets and extended family visits in Guerrero.
- Astrological note: Born under the sign of Leo, she shares a birthday month with her eldest daughter and says she enjoys the “sun-charged” energy of August.
- No-social stance: Despite the digital age, Jiménez prefers life offline; fan pages run by admirers post professional shots, but she discourages personal snapshots.
- Fitness routine: Friends say she favors sunrise beach runs, yoga flows, and family bicycle rides around the couple’s California neighborhood—activities that double as quality time with the kids
Family Life
Jiménez and Vin Diesel first crossed paths in Los Angeles in 2007 and quietly began a romance that has now lasted well over a decade—remarkable longevity by Hollywood standards. The couple welcomed daughter Hania Riley Sinclair in April 2008, son Vincent Sinclair in 2010, and daughter Pauline in March 2015, named in honor of Diesel’s late Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker. The family guards its private rituals: birthdays are homemade-cake affairs, and red-carpet moments are reserved for franchise premieres where Jiménez stays a step behind the cameras, ensuring the spotlight remains on Diesel’s work. Still, their children occasionally step into showbiz: Hania voiced a character in Netflix’s Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, and Vincent played young Dominic Toretto in F9. Jiménez’s support system also stretches to Meadow Walker, Paul Walker’s daughter, whom she treats like an honorary niece.
Associated With
- Vin Diesel: Life partner, father of her children, and the reason she sometimes trades fashion-week seats for action-movie premieres. Together they champion causes such as global road safety and childhood literacy programs.
- Paul Walker: Though the two were acquaintances rather than close friends, Jiménez honors Walker’s legacy through Pauline’s name and by continuing the family’s bond with Meadow Walker.
- Alberto Rodríguez & Roberto Cavalli (LatAm): Designers who featured Jiménez on runways early in her career, helping her transition from national commercials to the broader fashion scene.
- Coca-Cola & Honda: Brands whose high-profile ads introduced her face to millions across Latin America, jump-starting an enduring modeling career.
