Linda Evangelista Makes Triumphant Modeling Comeback After Botched Procedure

Linda Evangelista is back like she never left. After being in seclusion for about five years due to a botched cosmetic procedure, the iconic model made her return to her first love — modeling.

Evangelista shared a photo from her first major campaign since going off the grid and she expressed gratitude for her impressive return.

Over the weekend, Evangelista shared a photo from a recent campaign she did with Fendi. The Canadian model, who has earned the title of one of the most photographed people in the world, looked luxurious as she posed with several designer pieces from the brand.

She looked years younger, wearing a grey turtle neck sweater with a flap at the chest area. She posed with her face turning sideways, while holding a bunch of bags and purses on her arm. Several silk face caps were beautifully arranged on her head as she rocked a pair of pink sunglasses from Fendi.

Evangelista accessorized with diamond earrings in the shape of a safety pin. The accompanying caption read, "On September 9 2022 @Fendi will host a special fashion show in New York City to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the #FendiBaguette, designed by @silviaventurinifendi, and two years since @mrkimjones joined the Maison as Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear. #Fendi."

She continued, "♥️ I am so grateful to: Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear: @mrkimjones. Artistic Director of Accessories and Menswear: @silviaventurinifendi . Artistic Director of Jewelry: @delfinadelettrez Creative Direction: @ronnie.cooke.newhouse @karlbolander."

Fans camped under the post, congratulating the legendary model for her first major campaign. One fan wrote, "nternet broken ???❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ @lindaevangelista."

This user wrote, "And the fashion galaxy and me are grateful you’re BACK LILLI," while another added, "No one puts Linda in the corner.. you just can't keep that kinda glamor down."

"This photograph made me so happy, can we please also celebrate you LINDA? Look at you, absolutely beautiful.I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be taking care of your skin ❤️@lindaevangelista ❤️ I love you ?," wrote another fan.

Evangelista's Fendi campaign comes months after she came out of hiding and shared the first photos of her body following the damaging  cosmetic procedure she claims left her "brutally disfigured" and "permanently deformed."

In an exclusive People Magazine cover, the supermodel shared her truth, saying, "I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know. I can't live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn't live in this pain any longer. I'm willing to finally speak."

Evangelista underwent seven sessions of CoolSculpting— a popular, FDA-cleared "fat-freezing" procedure promoted as a noninvasive alternative to liposuction— from August 2015 to February 2016.

Months after the procedure, the "Prêt-à-Porter" star began noticing hardened bulges at her chin, thighs and bra area. The very places she wanted to shrink, increased in size and then turned numb.

Evangelista believed she was doing something wrong and began dieting to the point that she was starving. "I got to where I wasn't eating at all. I thought I was losing my mind," she lamented.

She finally decided to see a doctor and that was when the heartbreaking news of her diagnosis was revealed. Evangelista recalled, "I dropped my robe for him. I was bawling, and I said, 'I haven't eaten, I'm starving. What am I doing wrong?"

The doctor diagnosed her with Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia — a rare side effect where the freezing process causes the affected fatty tissue to thicken and expand. It affects less than 1 percent of CoolSculpting patients.

He told her no amount of exercise and dieting could fix the diagnosis. Evangelista who claims the botched procedure caused her to lose her identity, "I don't recognize myself physically, but I don't recognize me as a person any longer either. She [Linda Evangelista the supermodel] is sort of gone."

As The Blast reported, in September 2021, Evangelista filed a lawsuit against CoolSculpting's parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., for $50 million in damages, alleging that she's been unable to work since undergoing the procedure.

She announced her decision to go after the company in a statement shared on social media that read, "Today I took a big step towards righting a wrong that I have suffered and have kept to myself for over five years. 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."

She continued, "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 described, ‘unrecognizable.'"

Evangelista shared how her diagnosis gravely affected her, writing, "PAH has not only destroyed my livelihood. It has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness, and the lowest depths of self-loathing. In the process, I have become a recluse."

Explaining her choice to sue, she concluded the statement, "With this lawsuit, I am moving forward to rid myself of my shame and going public with my story. I’m so tired of living this way. I would like to walk out my door with my head held high, despite not looking like myself any longer."