Linda Evangelista, a former supermodel, has spoken out about the mental health toll her degrading cosmetic treatment had on her, telling British Vogue that she battled depression and even stopped eating at one point.
The 57-year-old also acknowledged that repeated TV advertisements had a negative impact on her decision to undergo the fat-freezing procedure. If she had known the risks involved, she claims she would have declined the procedure.
One year after filing a $50 million lawsuit against US company Zeltiq Aesthetics over its CoolSculpting body-contouring surgery, which she claimed left her “brutally disfigured.”
A unusual adverse effect known as paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, which causes swelling and the thickening of fatty tissue, was not disclosed to the Canadian model, she alleged.
She declared that the lawsuit had been resolved in July but withheld the details of the settlement.
The model made her first appearance on the cover of British Vogue’s UK edition in nearly 24 years on Thursday when she was revealed as the cover hero of the magazine’s upcoming September issue. A number of glossy images of Evangelista, who has spent the last five years “hiding” in New York, are included with the article.
Evangelista revealed the efforts she has made to undo the harm in a thorough interview, including having two liposuction procedures and donning compression clothing.
Along with Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista was a staple of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s. She claimed that advertisements had convinced her to have body-contouring.
Linda Evangelista participated in a high-profile campaign with Italian fashion house Fendi in July after going years without working as a model.
The model talked about visiting Japan at the age of 16 in the early 1980s and how an agency pushed her to take off her clothing there.