Linda Evangelista stars in Fendi campaign after cosmetic procedure left her 'deformed'

The former supermodel has re-entered the fashion world, months after revealing she had Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia as a result of a CoolSculpting procedure

Linda Evangelista, the Canadian model, now 56, displays a creation at the Louvre Carrousel in March 1995, Paris. AFP

At the Estee Lauder "Modern Muse" Fragrance Launch Party at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 2013. AFP

In 2014, New York City. AFP

Linda Evangelista attends the 2015 Fragrance Foundation Awards, at Lincoln Centre in New York City. AFP

At the Dolce & Gabbana collection show during the 2015 Spring / Summer Milan Fashion Week, Milan. AFP

The 2013 Fashion Awards in New York. AFP

The '90s supermodel attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2015. She says she's been a recluse for the past five years because of a botched plastic surgery that left her "disfigured". AFP

Former supermodel Linda Evangelista has featured in her first campaign since revealing that a cosmetic procedure left her “brutally disfigured”.

Evangelista, 57, is part of a special Fendi campaign, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of its popular Baguette bag, and will culminate with a show in New York City on September 25. Announcing the news on Instagram, she shared images from the campaign, shot by Steven Meisel in New York.

"On September 9 2022 @Fendi will host a special fashion show in New York City to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the #FendiBaguette, designed by @silviaventurinifendi, and two years since @mrkimjones joined the Maison as Artistic Director of Couture and Womenswear. #Fendi," she wrote.

The model, who appears in the image wearing stacked satin caps, nude sunglasses and carrying a silver sequinned Baguette bag, said she was "so grateful" to all the crew members involved in the project.

In September, Evangelista revealed she had been left “disfigured” after undergoing CoolSculpting, a localised fat freezing treatment, on her neck and chin.

"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," she said.

She said the procedure “did the opposite of what it promised”.

“It increased, not decreased, my fat cells and left me permanently deformed even after undergoing two painful, unsuccessful corrective surgeries,” she wrote on Instagram.

She revealed the treatment left her with Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia, a side effect she claims she was not made aware of before undergoing the treatment.

She has since filed a lawsuit against CoolSculpting's parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc, for $50 million in damages. She alleges that she has been unable to work since undergoing the sessions between August 2015 and February 2016.

Evangelista, who hails from Canada, was one of the most successful supermodels of the late 1980s and 1990s, and was part of campaigns for brands such as Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and Giorgio Armani.