Linda Evangelista made a triumphant return to the runway on Friday, closing out a Fendi show at New York Fashion Week.
The appearance was the supermodel's first show in 15 years and marked her return to the spotlight since a cosmetic procedure left her "brutally disfigured."
At Friday's show, which took place at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom, Evangelista appeared at the end of the show wearing a Tiffany blue taffeta gown. The voluminous look was accessorized with diamond earrings, silk gloves and a Fendi baguette bag.
The show celebrated the 25th anniversary of the iconic Fendi design, which has made appearances everywhere from TikTok to "And Just Like That." The dozens of other models featured in the show also held the iconic purse.
According to an Instagram post by the brand, Evangelista appeared alongside Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director Kim Jones, designer and jeweler Delfina Delettrez Fendi and designer and Fendi collaborator Marc Jacobs. The "momentous grand finale” was met with "a standing ovation the New York way," the brand wrote.
Evangelista, 57, announced she would appear in the show back in July via an Instagram post that was met with words of encouragement from her fans and supporters.
Her last runway appearance was in 2007, when she participated in a 60th-anniversary show for Christian Dior.
The appearance came a year after Evangelista opened up about her cosmetic procedure. The CoolSculpting procedure, she alleged, "increased, not decreased" her fat cells and left her "permanently deformed" even after attempting corrective surgery.
"I have been left, as the media has described, ‘unrecognizable,’” Evangelista said. The model said she went into hiding for five years, and that she became severely depressed before going public with her story. In July of this year, she posted on social media that she has since settled her case with Zeltiq Aesthetics, the parent company of CoolSculpting, and that she is "happy to put this matter behind me."
Earlier this year, she returned to modeling with British Vogue. She appeared on the cover of the magazine’s “Big Fashion Issue” wearing a red hat and headscarf covering her the sides of her face and neck.
ier accompanying interviewto modeling with British Vogue. She appeared on the cover of the magazine's "Big Fashion Issue" wearing a red hat and headscarf covering her the sides of her face and neck. The accompanying interview revealed the reasons why Evangelista had gone in for the non-invtold British Voguehe first place.
“It was about stubborn fat in area
that wouldn’t budge. It said no downtime, no surgery and … I drank the magic potion, and I would because I’m a little vain,” she told British Vogue. “So I went for it — and it backfired.”
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