Nearly a year after she went public about her fat-freezing nightmare that led to her 6-year hiatus, the former supermodel makes her comeback to the modeling industry through a Fendi campaign.
- July 19, 2022
AceShowbiz - Linda Evangelista successfully turns heads when she makes her return to the modeling industry. After taking a 6-year hiatus as a result of botched cosmetic procedure, the former supermodel made a glamorous comeback by posing for a Fendi campaign that promotes the brand's upcoming fashion show.
On Saturday, July 16, the 57-year-old model made use of her Instagram account to share a stunning snap of her looking away from the camera while carrying a few purses from Fendi. In it, she could be seen donning a gray sweater as well as a pair of sunglasses and gloves. Perching on her head was three pink caps.
The advertisement for Fendi marked Linda's first official modeling gig since she retreated from the spotlight and since she got candid about the reason behind her hiding. In September 2021, she confessed on Instagram that she was left "brutally disfigured" by an FDA-cleared "fat-freezing" procedure called CoolSculpting.
"Today I took a big step towards righting a wrong that I have suffered and have kept to myself for over five years," she wrote in the post. "To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers' careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq's CoolSculpting procedure which did the opposite of what it promised."
Detailing the procedure's unexpected results, Linda noted, "It increased, not decreased, my fat cells and left me permanently deformed even after undergoing two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries. I have been left, as the media has described, 'unrecognizable.' " She added, "I have developed Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia or PAH, a risk of which I was not made aware before I had the procedures."
Though the botched procedure did send her into a deep depression, Linda was finally done hiding in early 2022. In February, she showed off her body for the first time when she shared her story with PEOPLE. "I can't live like this anymore, in hiding and shame," she reasoned at the time. "I just couldn't live in this pain any longer. I'm willing to finally speak."
