Linda Evangelista
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 17: Linda Evangelista, Co-Chair of the Fragrance Foundation Awards attends the 2015 Fragrance Foundation Awards at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on June 17, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Fragrance Foundation)

It was as if no time had past since we witnessed former supermodel Linda Evangelista walk the runway for Thierry Mugler in 1995. While her contemporaries Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell have gone on to continue work in the public eye, Evangelista explained back in 2021 that she was “brutally disfigured” during a cosmetic procedure and since disappeared from the spotlight.

After five years behind closed doors, the 56-year-old has appeared in her first cover story in a long time for People

Linda Evangelista
NEW YORK, NY – CIRCA 1996: Linda Evangelista at the Ralph Lauren Spring 1997 show circa 1996 in New York City. (Photo by PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images)

“I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know,” she told the publication. “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.”

Last September she explained via Instagram that she underwent a fat freezing treatment dubbed “CoolSculpting”. Months later she said she developed a condition called Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia. Evangelista noticed that bulges at her chin, thighs and bra area that eventually hardened and went numb.

“I tried to fix it myself, thinking I was doing something wrong,” Evangelista said, and she began dieting and exercising more and more. “I got to where I wasn’t eating at all. I thought I was losing my mind.”

In 2016 she attended the doctor that said “no amount of dieting, and no amount of exercise was ever going to fix it.” According to the report, PAH affects less than one percent of patients and is approved by the FDA.

Linda Evangelista
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 06: Linda Evangelista attends the Costume Institute Gala for the “PUNK: Chaos to Couture” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Karwai Tang/FilmMagic)

The protrusions have altered her posture and cause chaffing to the point of bleeding. But perhaps the most devastating side effect is Evangelista’s waning mental health.

“Why do we feel the need to do these things [to our bodies]? I always knew I would age. And I know that there are things a body goes through. But I just didn’t think I would look like this,” she said. “I don’t recognise myself physically, but I don’t recognise me as a person any longer either. She is sort of gone.”

By sharing her story the 56-year-old hopes to help others in a similar situation. See the full shoot, here.