Linda Evangelista returns to modeling with Fendi after claiming fat-freezing left her ‘brutally disfigured’

Linda Evangelista, the supermodel who once said she wouldn’t “wake up for less than $10,000 a day,” is gearing up for her comeback.

The 57-year-old, who alleged that CoolSculpting left her “permanently deformed” and “brutally disfigured,” is now starring in a new ad campaign for Fendi. On Saturday, the Italian luxury fashion house tweeted a glamorous shot of the star and teased what was to come.

“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 Silvia Venturini Fendi, and two years since Kim Jones joined the Maison as Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear,” the tweet read.

The collaboration is believed to be Evangelista’s first modeling gig since she opened up about her cosmetic surgery “nightmare” last year. The Canadian icon, who was one of the most photographed models in the ‘90s, has lived in seclusion for about five years.

MODEL LINDA EVANGELISTA SAYS SHE WAS LEFT ‘DEFORMED’ AFTER A COSMETIC PROCEDURE THAT ‘DESTROYED’ HER CAREER

In September, Evangelista filed a lawsuit and sued CoolSculpting’s parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., for $50 million in damages. CoolSculpting, an FDA-cleared “fat freezing” procedure, has become popular for being a noninvasive alternative to liposuction. However, Evangelista alleged that she’s been unable to work since undergoing seven sessions in a dermatologist’s office from August 2015 to February 2016.

Earlier this year, Evangelista revealed that she was diagnosed with Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), a rare side effect that affects less than one percent of CoolSculpting patients in which the freezing process causes the affected fatty tissue to thicken and expand. Evangelista told People magazine that within three months of treatment, she noticed bulges on her chin, thighs and bra area that grew and hardened.

“[My doctor] told me no amount of dieting, and no amount of exercise was ever going to fix it,” Evangelista recalled.

A rep for CoolSculpting told the outlet that the procedure “has been well studied with more than 100 scientific publications and more than 11 million treatments performed worldwide” and added that rare side effects like PAH “continue to be well-documented in the CoolSculpting information for patients and health care providers.”

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Evangelista said that even after a second liposuction in July 2017, the PAH returned.

“It wasn’t even a little bit better,” she explained to the outlet. “The bulges are protrusions. And they’re hard. If I walk without a girdle in a dress, I will have chafing to the point of almost bleeding. Because it’s not like soft fat rubbing, it’s like hard fat rubbing.”

Evangelista also noted that her posture has been affected because she can no longer “put my arms flat along my side.”

“I don’t think designers are going to want to dress me with that,” she added, pointing out that the PAH from under her arm was “sticking out of my body.”

George Michael and Linda Evangelista during the ‘Too Funky’ shoot in 1992.
(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

“I don’t look in the mirror,” Evangelista admitted. “It doesn’t look like me.”

SUPERMODEL RAISES ALARM ON PARADOX OF COOLSCULPTING

But these days, Evangelista said she’s now hoping to reclaim her life.

“I hope I can shed myself of some of the shame and help other people who are in the same situation as me,” said Evangelista. “That’s my goal.”