Linda Evangelista Biography

Linda Evangelista Biography

Linda Evangelista is a Canadian fashion model who is one of the top supermodels from the 1990s. She is considered one of the most accomplished and influential models of all time and has been featured on over 700 magazine covers. She is famous for being the longtime "muse" of photographer Steven Meisel, as well as for the phrase: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day." Upon the suggestion of photographer Peter Lindbergh, Evangelista had her hair cut short in 1988. The haircut, nicknamed "The Linda", not only sparked many copies worldwide but also benefited Evangelista's career and helped usher in the era of the supermodel. She has been described as the "chameleon" of the fashion industry, as well as a key figure among the five supermodels. She was one of the most famous women in the world during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. She made her first theatrical film appearance in 1994 as herself in the satirical comedy-drama "Ready to Wear" (Original title: Prêt-à-Porter). However, her role was uncredited. Whereas her first credited performance took place in the 1996 documentary film "Catwalk" where she played herself. She made her TV show debut as a guest on the Spanish talk show "Primero izquierda" in 1992. Her achievements as a model led to her being voted as "The Greatest Supermodel of All Time" by the viewers of the television show "Fashion File" in the year 2008. 


Model Linda Evangelista says she was left 'deformed' by a cosmetic procedure


The supermodel shared a note on Instagram explaining that she has been left "unrecognizable" after the fat-freezing procedure. Linda now announced that a botched cosmetic treatment has rendered her unrecognizable and destroyed her livelihood. In a statement shared on social media, Linda Evangelista said that she has been "permanently deformed" after the cosmetic treatment done five years ago. The 56-year-old alleged that the fat-freezing procedure "did the opposite of what it promised." She even  said, "To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers' careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq's CoolSculpting procedure." She has filed a $50 million lawsuit over cosmetic procedures that she says left her "brutally disfigured" and turned her into a recluse. She said she suffered a rare side effect called paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH) after the procedures, which causes people to develop a swelling in the areas that were treated. 


What is Linda Evangelista Famous For?



  • Being a Canadian fashion model. 

  • Being one of the most recognized supermodels throughout the 80s and 90s with more than 700 magazine cover appearances to her credit.

  • For her rapidly-changing hairstyles and colors that had inspired numerous hair trends for women all over the world.

  • Being referred to as "the supermodel’s supermodel" by Marcus Chang of T: The New York Times Style Magazine.


Canadian fashion model, Linda Evangelista


Source: @vanityfair


What Nationality is Linda Evangelista? Details About Her Age, Parents, Education


Linda Evangelista was born on 10th May 1965 in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Thus, she holds Canadian nationality. She belongs to a Mixed ethnic background of Italian-Canadian as she has Italian ancestry on both her parent's sides. Her present age is 56 as of 2021. Taurus is his Zodiac sign. She was born to her father, Tomaso Evangelista who worked at General Motors, and her mother, Marisa Evangelista who is a Bookkeeper. Her father dies on 17th January 2014. Additionally, she also has two siblings with whom she grew up. In a 1997 interview, Evangelista said that she was a practicing Roman Catholic and that her favorite book was the Bible.


About her education, she studied at the Denis Morris Catholic High School in Ontario. When she was 12, she attended a modeling school and learned skills like etiquette and poise in their self-improvement course. As a teenager, she started modeling locally in her hometown. In the year 1981, she took part in the Miss Teen Niagara beauty pageant.


Linda Evangelista Career Timeline



  • Linda moved to New York City in the year 1984 after signing with Elite Model Management. She was moved to Paris by Elite where she launched her international high-fashion career at the age of 19.

  • Her very initial major fashion magazine cover was for the November 1984 issue of "L'Officiel".

  • After then, she appeared on the covers and in the pages of a variety of international publications including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Elle, W, Marie Claire, Allure, Time, Interview, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Cigar Aficionado, and i-D. All amounting to a total of more than 700 covers worldwide. 

  • Soon, she began working with Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer of the fashion house 'Chanel'.

  • Alongside her work for Versace and Lagerfeld, she even modeled for various other fashion brands such as Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianfranco Ferré, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, Azzedine Alaïa, Oscar de la Renta, Giorgio Armani, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Donna Karan, Jil Sander, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alberta Ferretti, Isaac Mizrahi, Escada, Calvin Klein, Salvatore Ferragamo, Max Mara, Perry Ellis, Chloé, Comme des Garçons, Bill Blass, and Herve Leger. 

  • In addition, she has represented a diverse array of other companies and non-fashion brands like Visa, American Express, Pizza Hut, De Beers, and Elizabeth Arden. 

  • She next began to appear in advertisements and commercials for Revlon's "The Most Unforgettable Women in the World" campaign in 1987. 

  • Later, she has been photographed by the likes of Peter Lindbergh, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Patrick Demarchelier, Paolo Roversi, Norman Parkinson, Arthur Elgort, Gilles Bensimon, Ellen von Unwerth, Sante D'Orazio, and Nick Knight among others. 

  • It was Lindbergh who, in the fall of 1988, suggested to Evangelista that she cut her hair short after seeing her try on a short wig for a photo shoot. 

  • She then got a short gamine haircut from the French hairstylist Julien d'Ys. The following day, she was photographed by Lindbergh, which resulted in a now-famous photograph known as "the white shirt picture".

  • Firstly, the haircut was not well received by the fashion industry, and Evangelista was canceled from 16 fashion shows. By the spring of 1989, her haircut was the look of the season. The haircut was referred to as "The Linda", and it inspired the creation of a wig called "The Evangelista". 

  • She then became known as one of the five supermodels, a group of star models who reached the pinnacle of success during the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

  • As of May 1990, she was chosen as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People. 

  • Moreover, she also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show where she served as a judge for an Elite model search competition, and chose Leslie Bibb as the winner, who later became an actress. 

  • In June 1991, she attended Valentino's 30th Anniversary Gala in Rome, Italy with Meisel. 

  • In August of the same year, in an article for Vogue, fashion journalist Suzy Menkes described Evangelista as "the world's star model". 

  • She then starred in the 1991 documentary "Models: The Film", directed by Lindbergh.

  • Also, she appeared in an episode of the MTV show "House of Style" devoted a segment to Evangelista, which was filmed in Paris. 

  • During 1991 and 1992, she was seen on several different billboards for the fashion brand Kenar, in the center of Times Square which was done in conjunction with Ads Against AIDS, and was a campaign created by the advertising industry to raise awareness about tackling the disease. 

  • In April 1992, she alongside several other supermodels appeared on the cover of the 100th-anniversary issue of Vogue, which remains to this day as the magazine's highest-selling issue.

  • She also appeared in the music video for George Michael's "Too Funky" song, in which she parodied her modeling persona. 

  • As of July 1992, she was on the cover of Canadian fashion magazine "Flare", which was an issue honoring Canada's 125 years as a nation. 

  • Her cover for the September 1992 issue of Harper's Bazaar is now seen as "iconic", and it was ranked #9 on the American Society of Magazine Editors' list of the "Top 40 Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years" in 2005.

  • At the end of 1992, her name was immortalized in RuPaul's song, "Supermodel (You Better Work)".

  • In 1993, she made headlines when she traveled to Australia with Claudia Schiffer for a 5-day tour, which included a news conference and a televised fashion show, as part of the grand opening of a department store.


Linda Evangelista is referred as 'the supermodel’s supermodel'


Source: @huffingtonpost



  • In October 1994, she was one of several models on the cover of Vogue Italia's 30th-anniversary issue. 

  • Moreover, she also appeared in the feature film "Prêt-à-Porter" and also starred in the fashion documentary "Unzipped".

  • Likewise, she was also the presenter at the Miss World 1995 competition.

  • She was also seen in the fashion documentary "Catwalk". 

  • Later on, she landed a $7.75 million contract with Yardley of London. Eventually, she made the choice to retire from modeling in 1998 and settled on the French Riviera, where she spent the next two years. 

  • In the year 2001, she made a noteworthy return to the modeling world and appeared on the cover of the September issue of Vogue.

  • In 2002, she was in the ad campaign for Versace's fall/winter collection. 

  • The next year, she was back on the high-fashion runways, walking for Versace and Dolce & Gabbana. 

  • In 2004, she appeared in the spring/summer ad campaigns for both NARS Cosmetics and Fendi.

  • In 2006, she appeared on the cover of the book "In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine" along with model Kristen McMenamy, photographed by Meisel.

  • In August 2006, she made the cover of Vogue, becoming the first model to appear on that magazine's cover in more than a year. 

  • In 2007, she signed a multiple-year exclusive contract as the brand ambassador for the cosmetics giant L'Oreal Paris. 

  • In May 2008, she made an appearance at the Cannes film festival where she posed for photographers on the red carpet along with fellow beauty Aishwarya Rai. 

  • She also appeared in the September 2008 issue of Vanity Fair for a feature story on the supermodels titled "A League of Their Own".

  • In the year 2009, the Metropolitan Museum of Art held an exhibition called "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion". 

  • In 2010, she was chosen to star in the ad campaign for the revamped Talbots brand.

  • In May 2012, she attended the Met Gala as the special guest of Miuccia Prada, the creative director of the Prada brand, who was being honored at the gala. 

  • She was then featured in the book "Vogue: The Editor's Eye" as one of fashion's model-muses. 

  • In the year 2014, Evangelista was present at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. 

  • She was on the cover of the September 2014 issue of Harper's Bazaar, which has been described as "Harper's biggest ever".

  • She has remained the record holder for most Vogue Italia covers. 

  • In October 2014, it was announced that Evangelista had signed on to be a guest judge on the ninth season of the reality television series "Australia's Next Top Model". 

  • In June 2015, she was a chairwoman for the FiFi Awards, where she presented the awards for both men's and women's prestige fragrance of the year.

  • She was then chosen as the cover image for the book "Vogue 100: A Century of Style",  which was released in February 2016.

  • She also appeared on the cover of the book "Age of the Supermodel".

  • As of November 2016, she was named Creative Director and Vice President of the Erasa Skin Care brand. 

  • In September 2021, she explained why she had not been working, withdrawing from public life. She stated that five years previously she had a cosmetic procedure under the brand name CoolSculpting to reduce fat under her skin, but that this had done the opposite, with the complication paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH). She said that she has initiated legal action against the owners of CoolSculpting, Zeltiq Aesthetics.


Who is Linda Evangelista married to?


Linda Evangelista was a married woman but she is assumed to be single at present. She is enjoying her present life happily without any disturbances and she is building her career as well. After splitting with Peter Morton, she was not seen dating anyone neither there is no news and rumors about her affairs and relationship. Her sexual orientaiton is striaght. 


Previously, Linda Evangelista tied the knot to her handsome husband, Gérald Marie on 1st July 1987. In her early 20s, Linda met agent Gérald Marie, who was heading the Paris office of Elite Models at that time. Even though they were 15 years apart in age, the two became romantically involved in the year 1986. After dating for a year, Linda and Gérald got married. After five years of together, their marriage ended via divorce in 1993. After that, she dated Kyle MacLachlan who is an actor by profession. Kyle MacLachlan and Linda met for the first time in the year 1992 while doing a photoshoot together for Barneys New York. The duo also dated for three years before announcing their engagement in 1995. But, before they could tie the knot the couple decided to split up in the year 1998. Afterward, she dated French football player Fabien Barthez. She became pregnant but miscarried, six months into the pregnancy. The couple broke up in the year 2000, reunited in 2001, and then officially ended their relationship in 2002. After then, she dated Maximilan Leroy (2002), Ugo Brachetti Peretti (2003-2004), Paolo Barilla (2005). French billionaire François-Henri Pinault and Linda were an item from September 2005 to January 2006. She also made an appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine in August 2006, by then, heavily pregnant and gave birth to a boy, Augustin James Evangelista on October 11. However, she refused to reveal the details about her son's biological father citing him to be a New York architect. But, it was in June 2011, when she filed court papers for child support that his identity was revealed to be Pinault. The Frenchman began dating actress Salma Hayek shortly after his relationship with Linda. The ex-lovers got embroiled in an unpleasant court battle as Linda had asked for $46,000 in monthly child support. The amount was considered excessive and if passed, would have been the highest child support payment granted by a family court. In the end, the two parties agreed to settle out of court. Later, she started her relationship with the co-founder of Hard Rock Café, 


Linda Evangelista and her ex-husband, Gerald Marie


Source: @filmdaily


Peter Morton in September 2006. But, by October 2010, reports confirmed that their 4-year long relationship was over. Then, she dated Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. In addition, it is alleged that fellow Canadian and singer, Bryan Adams had an encounter with the supermodel in the past. 


What is the Linda Evangelista Net Worth as of 2021?


Linda Evangelista is a talented and successful Canadian supermodel whose net worth is estimated to have $40 million as of 2021. Whereas her exact salary details and earnings are still to get disclosed yet. She has done endorsement work for the following brands such as Versace (1989) (Print Ad), Bloomingdale’s (1989) (Print Ad), Perry Ellis (1989) (Print Ad), Revlon (1989) (Print Ad), Donna Karen (1990) (Print Ad), Ferretti (1990) (Print Ad), The Limited (1991) (Print Ad), Barney’s New York (1992) (Print Ad), Estee Lauder (USA) (1993), Jill Sander No. 4 (1994) (Print Ad), Kenar (1996) (Print Ad), Ultress (1996) (Print Ad), Ralph Lauren (1997) (Print Ad), Dior (1998) (Print Ad), Yardley (1997 & 1998) (Print Ad and TV Commercial), American Express (1998), Jones New York (1998, 1999, & 2000) (Print Ad), Wallis (2002) (Print Ad), Prada (2008) (Print Ad), L’Oreal Paris (2008, 2009, 2010) (Print Ad and TV Commercial), Clairol, La Redoute, Loewe, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana. Her main source of wealth comes from her modeling career and she is satisfied with her earnings as of today. She is living a lavish lifestyle at present. 


How tall is Linda Evangelista and how much does she weigh?


Linda Evangelista is a very charming and attractive woman whose body type is athletic. She has a perfect height of 5 ft 9½ in or 176.5 cm. Her body weight consists of 81 Kg or 178.5 lbs. Her hair color is Light Brown (Natural). However, her hair has been dyed in multiple colors from platinum blonde, cinnamon, ash brown, to burgundy during her modeling days. She has a pair of blue-green eyes. She has a hooked nose and pixie hairdo from the late 80s. She wears shoe sizes of 10 (US) or 40.5 (EU) or 7.5 (UK). Her other body measurement is unavailable at a moment. Overall, she has got a healthy body as she maintains her body a lot.