In 2021, Linda Evangelista sued the company behind CoolSculpting after she had a bad reaction to the “fat-freezing” cosmetic process. The procedures left her with a medical condition which created bulges of hard “fat” all over her body, neck and chin. Linda settled out of court with the company in July, and when she went public with her struggle, she received an outpouring of support from the fashion industry and from Hollywood. Now, British Vogue has given her their September cover. This is her first Vogue cover and fashion shoot in many years, since before the CoolSculpting debacle. Linda spoke honestly about her modeling days and spending five years in hiding after her CoolSculpting disaster:
The forest-green Birkin she’s owned since 1985: “Hermès invited me to choose something and I remember walking in thinking, ‘What the hell am I going to get in here?’ The stores weren’t like they are today. And then I saw this bag. But even the sales assistants said it was ‘démodé’, which I guess it was at the time, because it was just left on the top shelf. They actually blew dust off it. Of course, I had no idea who Jane Birkin was.”
Her early modeling days: “How did I keep going? This is the truth: I was young. You could go out and eat salty fried food and drink Champagne, sleep at 3am and be up again at 5am.” They worked hard: Concorde flew them around the globe. Played hard: “Drugs were offered to me, but I never touched them. I’m not saying I was an angel… but I was terrified of drugs.” And shopped hard: “Were we gifted things? Sure. But I didn’t get that much. Karl was very generous, I felt like at moments I had the key to the boutique. He would ask, ‘Have you been shopping yet? Go. Go take what you want.’” She would choose cashmere twinsets, a couple of bags and some shoes. “But we didn’t get as much as people might think. I remember once at the airport, my bag was overweight and the woman at check-in said to me, ‘You have to pay for your case, it’s overweight.’ She said, ‘You probably didn’t pay for anything in it… so…’ I mean, that was mean. Mean, and false!”
She got higher rates for models: “I had the power of being able to hold out. That’s all it came down to. But also… I was thinking about different industries. Athletes aren’t all paid the same – some are paid more for what they bring to the game. It wasn’t a matter of thinking I was better… but I knew my worth.”
Going into hiding after CoolSculpting left her disfigured: “If I had known side effects may include losing your livelihood and you’ll end up so depressed that you hate yourself…I wouldn’t have taken that risk.”
She thought it was safe: “Those CoolSculpting commercials were on all the time, on CNN, on MSNBC, over and over, and they would ask, ‘Do you like what you see in the mirror?’ They were speaking to me. It was about stubborn fat in areas that wouldn’t budge. It said no downtime, no surgery and… I drank the magic potion, and I would because I’m a little vain. So I went for it – and it backfired.”
She needed corrective cosmetic surgery: “I have incisions all over my body. I have had stitches, I have worn compression garments under my chin, I’ve had my entire body tightly girdled for eight weeks – nothing helped.” At the peak of her desperation, she stopped eating. “I was so embarrassed, I’d just spent all this money and the only way I could think of to fix it was zero calories, and so I just drank water. Or sometimes I would have a stick of celery or one apple. I was losing my mind.”
Trying to explain it to her son Augustin James Evangelista: “He was as understanding as a 13 year old could be. I told him there would be a lawsuit and I said, ‘You might hear things and be embarrassed.’ And he said, ‘Why would I be embarrassed? I’m sad for you. I’m not embarrassed.’ Then he said, ‘I’m going to take care of you, don’t worry.’ What parent wants to be a burden to their child?”
While she settled, she’s not healed: “Am I cured mentally? Absolutely not,” she declares. She still can’t look in the mirror, nor can she bear for anyone to touch her body. “But I’m so grateful for the support I got from my friends and from my industry.”
She can’t do all modeling gigs: “I miss my work so much, but honestly, what can I do? It isn’t going to be easy,” she concedes, highlighting the fact that in these pictures, she’s almost entirely covered. “You’re not going to see me in a swimsuit, that’s for sure. It’s going to be difficult to find jobs with things protruding from me; without retouching, or squeezing into things, or taping things or compressing or tricking…”
I can understand why she felt ashamed about admitting that her cosmetic procedure went wrong, but I also understand why everyone in fashion embraced her when she finally began speaking out. I think it’s amazing that so many designers, photographers, stylists and magazines have her back. She’s already gotten a Fendi campaign, she’s back on a Vogue cover and she’s scoring more jobs. And most of all, she doesn’t have to live in self-imposed exile anymore. Her face is still so fascinating! Glamazon Forever.
Cover and IGs courtesy of British Vogue.
I remember where she came on the scene and just thinking about absolutely stunning her face was. And still is.
And she was a absolute camillion. Any hair color, hair style, makeup she had the ability to make it work. That is a supermodel and she is it.
Always stunning but I know for a fact she was into 80s cocaine. Got my (model) friend strung out on drugs as a result of her entourage.
@bananapanda, thank you for sharing this and I absolutely believe it. It is incredible to me that people continue to give Evangelista the benefit of the doubt when it comes to her former husband Marie’s egregious actions against other models (contrast and compare with how Weinstein’s wife was treated). Some of which took place in their apartment, allegedly when Evangelista was there.
100%
I have a psychiatrist friend who supervised an alcohol intervention with her in the 90s (at the request of an A+ singer.)
No one expects her to be an angel – why even bring the subject up now?
Why does that top picture look blurry? I think it would be great to see more of her, including her imperfections. Obviously she’s very self-conscious and would probably be uncomfortable doing that, but if she hasn’t earned the right to come as she is at this point of her career then who has?
I think she must be talking about a different bag because Jane Birkin sketched the Birkin in 1981 and it was produced for Hermes in 1984, so there’s no way the sales associates would have called it demode in 1985. I mean I get it wasn’t immediately the icon it is now which is probably why they gave it to her but I doubt it would be gathering dust on a top shelf ignored.
I love that she’s normalising the right for a person feel comfortable while wearing gorgeous clothes.
I have a full thickness burn scar. It took me over a decade to have it visible in public because people ask about it. (It’s human curiosity and I understand. I just didn’t want pity).
I can’t imagine why it’d be like to navigate the pain of protrusions that leave your skin rubbed raw by clothes.
Maybe Linda will continue to keep her body covered up publicly or maybe she won’t. Either way I’m just glad she’s reached a place where she’s comfortable leaving her house and pursuing her passion. I’m so inspired by her journey.
Also the use of colour, proportion and pattern in this shot is exquisite.
There is such a huge luxury industry in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. She could easily get work as a model there for modest fashion.