Linda Evangelista disfigured returns to the cover, "but with retouching" - Lifestyle

For five years she disappeared from the spotlight after a body reshaping operation disfigured her, but now, after deciding to tell her story,

is back on the cover.

The model, one of the queens of the catwalks around the world in the 80s and 90s, is in

in September after a beauty treatment caused bumps on her neck, arms and legs.

Her photo session with

is her first

cover and fashion shoot in some time: 

since, she claims, a fat freezing procedure, cryolipolysis, has left her "brutally disfigured".

So she decided that the only way out was to tell her story about her.

"I couldn't experience that pain anymore," she says.

"I knew I had to make a change and the only change was to tell my truth."

57, the daughter of Italian immigrants, Evangelista grew up in Canada, in the city of St Catharines in Ontario, where her father worked for General Motors and her mother was an accountant.

In the golden years Linda, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington were labeled as The Trinity, before Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer joined the all-powerful lineup of super supermodels.

A career that began in 1984 with the hiring of Elite Model Management.

The following year she had a house in Paris as well as in New York and had started working for Chanel.

"Karl [Lagerfeld] was a journey," she recalls.

“There was nothing I wouldn't have done for him.” Arthur Elgort photographed her for 

 Paris and soon after she worked with all the greats, from Meisel, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon to Herb Ritts and

(who ingeniously suggested she cut her hair short, when everyone else wore it long).

She appeared in multimillion-dollar campaigns for Revlon and, thanks to Gianni Versace, she was one of the first models to crossover between the model and the catwalk, which until then was a separate industry. 

About her failed operation on her in February she first spoke to People magazine saying she was sick of hiding

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Linda Evangelista Disfigured, 'Just Hide Me' - Lifestyle

"I'm done hiding."

After nearly five years away from the spotlight, Linda Evangelista is ready to share her story.

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And now she is back in front of the photographer's lens.

And she has no problem admitting that the photos are retouched: "Those aren't my jaw and neck in real life."

In the images shot by Steven Meisel, Evangelista always wears a scarf around her face that hides her ears and hair, while makeup artist Pat McGrath gently pulled back her face, jaw and neck with duct tape and rubber bands.

    "

, but in fashion photos I think our job is to create fantasies, to create dreams, "she said in the Vogue interview, explaining that she was drawn to the CoolSculpting procedure for her own vanity:" Those commercials were airing everywhere and they asked: 'Do you like what you see in the mirror?'

They were talking to me.

    "" They promised no downtime, no surgery and ... I drank the magic potion, I did it because I'm a little vain, and it backfired on me, "she continued, revealing:" If had I known the side effects could include losing your livelihood and the risk of being so depressed that I hate you ... I wouldn't have taken that risk. "

    In September 2021, the model filed a $ 50 million lawsuit against CoolSculpting company Zeltiq Aesthetics, which she later settled in July.

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Linda Evangelista bargains after cosmetic disaster at the dermatologist - Lifestyle

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With Vogue, Evangelista recalled her early days as a model and when she became famous.

Asked if she was aware of her beauty, and if the boys wanted to go out with her, she replied, "No. I had a lot of friends, but no. You know what there was? I was tall and people were saying to my mom, ' Oh, she's tall. She should be a model. 'Then I was obsessed with fashion. "

And when she was asked if she was mentally cured, she admitted: "Absolutely not, but I am grateful for the support I have received from my friends and my industry."

Support came from her colleagues, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marc Jacobs.

Artistic director Kim Jones was one of the first to send her a letter, the result of which sees her as the protagonist of a

". You will not see me in a bathing suit, that's for sure - he concluded - And it will be difficult to find work with the protuberances without retouching, compressing, or using tricks".