Linda Evangelista made a sensational return to the runway following a 15-year absence on Friday – and six years after she claimed she was left "brutally disfigured" by a cosmetic procedure.
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The supermodel walked in the star-studded Fendi show at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom to kick off New York Fashion Week, wearing a dramatic Tiffany blue taffeta gown, according to Footwear News.
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Linda looked incredible in her runway look and added a silver-patterned Baguette bag under her right arm and matching metallic silver gloves that went all the up to her elbows.
She was greeted with cheers and applause from the crowd who were blown away by her triumphant return.
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Back in July, the 57-year-old unveiled her first fashion campaign since her botched procedure, posing for a stunning photoshoot for Fendi to promote the fashion brand's iconic Baguette bag.
Her appearance comes after she claimed in an Instagram post in September 2021 that she had been left "permanently deformed" and "brutally disfigured" by the popular fat-freezing procedure CoolSculpting.
© Photo: Getty ImagesLinda was met with applause on her runway return
Linda – who once famously said, "I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day" – alleged that the procedure "increased, not decreased, my fat cells and left me permanently deformed even after undergoing two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries".
She said that it had "not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness, and the lowest depths of self-loathing" and that she had "become a recluse".
Linda said that after the first procedure – which freezes fat and claims up to 20 per cent reduction - she noticed bulges at her chin and thighs which then turned numb and hard.
© Photo: Getty ImagesLinda looked incredible
She began starving herself, hoping to fix what she thought was weight gain, and when she visited her doctor, he told her that "no amount of dieting and no amount of exercise was ever going to fix it".
Linda filed a lawsuit last September suing CoolSculpting's parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., for $50million in damages, alleging that she had been unable to work since undergoing seven sessions from August 2015 to February 2016.
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