Linda Evangelista Walks Runway After 15-Year Hiatus Over Botched Cosmetic Procedure

After spending years in seclusion due to a bad surgical procedure, fashion Model Linda Evangelista walked the runway during New York fashion week. The last time the star walked the red carpet was over a decade ago during a Christian Dior Couture Fall/Winter show.

The Blast reported that Evangelista previously accused and sued Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. for allegedly permanently deforming her. The former supermodel underwent a nonsurgical procedure to freeze her fat cells; however, she came out of the procedure with the opposite result. She was diagnosed with paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), which grew instead of freezing her cells.

The 57-year-old decided to walk the runway once again during the Fendi show in the NYFW. Clad in a beautiful billowy Tiffany blue dress with equally eye-catching accessories, Evangelista walked down the fashion aisle to the applause and gaze of several A-list celebrities that littered the audience.

Read on to learn more.

Supermodel Evangelista, recently closed out the Fendi show during the New York Fashion Week. During her first walk in 15 years, she had on a stunning Tiffany blue taffeta dress.

The outfit was paired with silver silk gloves as well as eye-catching diamond earrings and a Fendi Baguette bag. The event was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fendi Baguette bag.

In the September 9 event that took place in the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, Evangelista gave a dazzling show with the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Kardashian in the front row crowd.

The last time Evangelista walked a runway was as far back as 2008 for the Dior Haute Couture Fall/Winter show, which took place in Versailles, France. The 57-year-old was among the IT girls of the 1990s, alongside stars like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.

Evangelista's most recent walk is also her first since the model accused Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. of allegedly disfiguring her after a nonsurgical procedure gone terribly wrong.

The former supermodel reportedly wanted to get cryo lipolysis, a nonsurgical procedure that freezes fat; however, the result was the reverse, and Evangelista developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH). This is reportedly a side effect of CoolSculpting and enables the fat cells to grow instead of shrinking.

The 57-year-old took to Instagram in September last year to explain her continued absence from the runway despite the success of her modeling peers on the runway. She wrote, "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."

Further on in the post, the 90s supermodel revealed that the side effects of the nonsurgical procedure left her "permanently deformed." Evangelista said she had already undergone two "painful" surgeries to correct the issue; however, neither worked. She described her current physical state as "unrecognizable" and said the health issue destroyed her means of livelihood.

The 57-year-old continued, "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."

The month she made the post, Evangelista filed a lawsuit against Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. in order to "rid myself of my shame, and going public with my story." The suit demanded that the company pay the former supermodel $50 million in damages, claiming that she could not get back to work after the procedure. The CoolSculpting procedure reportedly took place in the dermatologist's office and lasted seven sessions, from August 2015 to February 2016.

In an interview with People Magazine early this year, Evangelista talked about when she found out she had PAH and how it affected her. According to the mother of one, she started noticing changes in her body three months after the treatment. There were reported bulges in her thighs, chin, and bra areas, all places she wanted to reduce.

At some point, the areas not only expanded, but they also became numb and got hard. Evangelista revealed that she grew worried and started dieting and working out more to tone the problem areas. "I tried to fix it myself, thinking I was doing something wrong," she recalled. "I got to where I wasn't eating at all. I thought I was losing my mind."

After exerting herself and getting little results, Evangelista visited her doctor in June 2016 and explained her situation. "I dropped my robe for him," the 57-year-old said. "I was bawling, and I said, 'I haven't eaten, I'm starving. What am I doing wrong?'"

The former supermodel was diagnosed with Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), after which Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. reportedly offered to cover her liposuction fees. Evangelista declined the offer after the company asked her to sign a confidentiality agreement.