Linda Evangelista Won't Ever Pose In Swimsuits Or Let Anyone Touch Her Following Botched Procedure

Linda Evangelista is slowly returning to her true self and embodying her identity as one of the most beautiful women in the world — a title she believes was stolen from her by a botched cosmetic surgery.

As you might know, last year, the iconic supermodel opened up about suffering a permanent disfigurement that left her utterly "unrecognized" after she underwent Zeltiq's CoolSculpting Procedure, which was non-invasive.

Evangelista sued the New York company in a bid to right a wrong that took her life in another direction. However, her decision to come out with the truth about her physical state was what realigned her path.

Evangelista is making her return to modeling after more than six years away, and she is doing it in style! For her first cover story since the incident, the Canadian supermodel graced the September Issue of British Vogue.

The "Catwalk" star looks radiant as ever in colorful and bold designer labels that include hats and long-sleeved outfits. Evangelista is embracing her new body, but her daring love for fashion is evident in the colorful prints she dons in her photo shoot.

On the cover of the prestigious magazine, Evangelista's signature jawline, cat eyes, and inviting look are on full display. However, she warns that she received some help with some retouching and professional makeup. Keeping things light-hearted, she tells the magazine, "That's not my jaw and neck in real life – and I can't walk around with tape and elastics everywhere."

Makeup artist Pat McGrath drew back her face, jaw, and neck with tapes and elastics. Despite needing a little fine-tuning, the 57-year-old has nothing but deep love for herself. She explained, "You know what, I'm trying to love myself as I am, but for the photos… I always think we're here to create fantasies. We're creating dreams. I think it's allowed. Also, all my insecurities are taken care of in these pictures, so I got to do what I love to do."

Evangelista, whose fear of looking older pushed her to try the controversial procedure, admitted that she no longer harbors such dread. About looking older, she said, "Bring it on. I just want to be here to see it all. I'm not done."

The fashion model, who dominated the 1990s and has over 700 magazine covers to her name, gave a rare insight into her decision to have a procedure. Despite being a global beauty who redefined what it meant to be a model with a career that thrived for three decades, Evangelista admitted she succumbed to society's harsh beauty standards.

"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 confessed.

She went through a depressive spell, starving herself and undergoing surgery to correct the visible fat bulges caused by the procedure. Evangelista recalled being unrecognizable to her 15-year-old son, Augustin James, who once said to her, "Remember when you used to be so much fun? Remember when you used to laugh all the time?"

While Evangelista's courage to tell her story helped her overcome the depression, she maintains that the trauma is not entirely behind her, even though she recently settled her $50 million case against Zeltiq.

"Am I cured mentally? Absolutely not," she stated, noting she still can't look in the mirror or allow anyone to touch her body. Nevertheless, she remains "so grateful for the support I got from my friends and from my industry."

Evangelista, who made her comeback to modeling in July in a vibrant Fendi campaign that left her son stunned, got candid about what her return to the industry might look like, especially with her condition.

"I miss my work so much, but honestly, what can I do? It isn't going to be easy," she noted. "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…"

Regardless, she is more than happy to be back doing one of the things she loves the most.