"The Greatest Model of All Time": How Linda Evangelista Became a Star and Changed the Fashion World Forever
Linda Evangelista
Today, May 10, one of the most famous models Linda Evangelista celebrates her birthday - she will turn 55 years old. In the 90s, she was the star not only of the catwalk, but also of all fashion parties, and her statements became catchphrases. But now Linda avoids social life and rarely appears in public. Today we are talking about the ups and downs of the supermodel, the most striking episodes of her life and how she lives now.
Linda Evangelista
Chameleon Model
Linda Evangelista is undoubtedly one of the most versatile models in history, and hardly anyone else can boast of such a frequent change of image: in five years she changed her hair color 17 times! A fiery red-haired beast, a platinum blonde with a bouffant, a tomboy with mischievous chestnut curls - any look suited her.
Kate Moss and Linda Evangelista
At the beginning of her modeling career, it was the short haircut that brought Linda success - photographer Peter Lindbergh suggested she part with her curls in 1988. The risk paid off - the hairstyle “like Linda’s” became a hit in thousands of hairdressers around the world.
Orbe Canales and Linda Evangelista
Of course I like my short hair. This quadrupled my bet! But I'm tired of seeing this haircut on everyone - every flight attendant, every saleswoman and in every restaurant,
- Linda said.
But more importantly, the haircut became part of her signature supermodel image: during the heyday of her career, she never returned to long hair. She had absolutely no need for them - after all, Evangelista started with advertising shampoos, but then she was faced with campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Versace, which became iconic. As, in fact, is her status.
Christy Turlington, Helena Christensen and Linda Evangelista
Already in the early 90s, Linda was one of the most sought-after models - along with Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell. The new superstars of the catwalk were named Trinity.
Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista
The phenomenon of supermodels was also established thanks to the music industry - Linda, along with other catwalk stars of those years, starred in George Michael's videos. The Freedom! video, and the song itself, was a real hit, a symbol of the onset of a new era - the era of the 90s.
But even among the best of the best, Linda was still one step ahead - she became the first model who was offered incredible fees for simply being present at some event. In fact, it was hardly necessary to get up for less than 10 thousand dollars.
How much does it cost to get out of bed?
This phrase: “I won’t get out of bed for less than ten thousand dollars” brought both fame and headaches to the model.
Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista
In the 90s, when the fashion world was full of splashes of champagne and deliberate luxury, Linda’s words were replicated by all publications in the world. They became a symbol of her success, and at that time there would hardly have been at least one girl who would not dream of having every reason to repeat this daring and even arrogant phrase.
In the original it sounds like We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day (a closer translation is “We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day”), and it talks not only about Linda, but also about Christy Turlington . In an interview with Vogue in 1990, Evangelista, when asked about earnings, noted that she and her colleague had such an expression.
Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista
Subsequently, when instead of champagne at parties they increasingly began to drink smoothies, and luxury became somehow awkward and inappropriate, models more than once recalled these words, forcing them to apologize for them.
I feel like these words will be engraved on my tombstone! They were mentioned every time I gave an interview. I apologized for them. I admitted it. I said it was true. I said it was a joke. Do I regret this? I used to regret it, but now I don’t. I don't regret anything anymore. Will I hope to never say anything like that again? Yes. Can I imagine saying something like that again? I hope not,
- Linda said in an interview with the same Vogue, but already in 2001.
The phrase once spoken, however, haunts Evangelista not only through the efforts of journalists. It has long been a part of pop culture, and the model notices references to her replica not only in the fashion world.
I watched the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", and there Brad Pitt's character says that he won't get out of bed for less than half a million dollars. These are my words! Only now we are talking about half a million, and their man says,
— Linda noted with humor.
Muse
Among supermodels, Linda was perhaps one of the first to work with designers who would create this era of supermodels.
Linda Evangelista and Karl Lagerfeld
She met Karl Lagerfeld and began working back in 1985. The German designer had been shaking off the dust and mothballs from the tweed suits of the legendary French brand, which at that time was in deep crisis.
Karl Lagerfeld and Linda Evangelista
Soon Chanel will no longer be associated with a brand for respectable old ladies. Micro bikinis, acid pink jackets and gold chains have become the uniform for the young, sexy and daring. And it will be she, Linda Evangelista, one of the Kaiser’s main favorites, who will represent all this on the podium.
There is no other model in the world who is as professional as her
- Lagerfeld said about Linda.
She first appeared in a Versace campaign in 1987, still with long hair. By the way, Christy Turlington posed side by side with her.
Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington in the Versace campaign
In 1986, she met photographer Steven Meisel, also becoming his muse: they worked together on many shoots and were not only colleagues, but also very close friends. Maisel admired Linda's photogenic qualities.
Linda Evangelista - photo by Steven Meisel
Steven Meisel and Linda Evangelista
Without her, the creative process would not go well. She was an incredible inspiration to photographers and stylists,
- John Galliano said about her.
Dirty stories
A happy meeting with a scout, a first contract, invitations to shows - the start of a modeling career often sounds ideal in the mouths of established stars. But Linda did not hide the other side of the business in her stories, admitting that she also had to get burned by obscene offers. So, Evangelista even wanted to quit the modeling business, although she had dreamed of this work since she was 12 years old.
Linda Evangelista in childhood
The reason for this is an unpleasant incident that occurred when she was 16 years old. By that time, she had already managed to take part in the local Miss Teen Niagara competition, but it was not successful. Perhaps that is why she so enthusiastically accepted the invitation of Japanese scouts to come to Tokyo - Linda was the only girl selected in her Canadian agency. The inspiration from being chosen quickly faded away.
When I arrived in Japan, I started to panic. The housing was terrible, and they started asking me if I could pose completely naked. The Canadian embassy helped me return home, and I put all thoughts about modeling out of my head,
- Linda recalled.
Linda Evangelista with her mother
A year later, her mother finally persuaded her to call the agent from Elite, whose business card she received at that modeling competition. Reluctantly, Evangelista agreed, but things weren’t exactly looking up in New York either.
At first they seemed happy to see me, but everything moved rather slowly. It seemed to me that everything was fine, I even received several invitations and earned $600. But I think my agency was very upset. They said that I should try myself in Europe, because nothing worked here,
- said Evangelista.
Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford
On the advice of the agency, in 1984 she moved to Paris, but even there, according to Evangelista, they were not happy with her. Three years passed before she received an invitation to shoot in Vogue.
If you don't have a manager who believes in you, you won't achieve anything.
- noted the model.
And yet, after all the ordeals, a happy meeting happened - she met the director of the European branch of Elite, Gerald Marie. After this, my career finally began to take shape.
Linda Evangelista with Gerald Marie
In 1987, she married him, but in 1992 they separated - Marie wanted children, but Linda, of course, was not ready to leave the best catwalks of the world as soon as she got on them.
Personal life
Evangelista’s novels were bright, beautiful and passionate - everything befits a true idol of her time. She and Kyle MacLachlan were one of the cutest couples the '90s saw. The affair with the actor began at the end of 1992 - she plunged into a new relationship, barely having time to end the previous ones. It will always be like this - the twists and turns of her novels were breathtaking.
Linda Evangelista and Kyle MacLachlan
She met Kyle at a photo shoot for the Barneys department store in New York, while still a married woman. After a couple of weeks, she will break up with Marie. McLachlan was also not yet free at the time of our acquaintance, but, as he admitted, everything happened very quickly.
Of course, on the first night there was nothing between us. It was the second time
— Kyle said about their relationship: in terms of sharp statements, he was clearly not inferior to his new lover.
Subsequently, they would star together in several more photo projects - the magazines, of course, did not want to let such a beautiful couple go.
Things came to an engagement in 1995, and, quite possibly, it would have come to a wedding and the birth of children, but at the next turn, Kyle and Linda began to fly apart. After six years of relationship they broke up.
In fact, I didn’t want to marry her, I didn’t see the point, and the relationship had already exhausted itself,
— he recalled in an interview with the Daily Mail.
However, these words may have sprouted from soil well fertilized with resentment. After all, they broke up after photographs appeared in the press in which Linda kissed the star of the French national football team and Manchester United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
Linda Evangelista and Fabien Barthez
But this relationship did not bring happiness to the model - in the sixth month of pregnancy, Evangelista had a miscarriage, and in 2000 she broke up with the goalkeeper. The next year they tried to restore relations, but this attempt was also unsuccessful.
But the scandals are not over. In October 2006, Linda finally managed to become a mother - her son Augustine James was born.
Linda Evangelista with her son
The model hid her father’s name, and it soon became clear that it was not a matter of superstition due to past failures on the personal front. In 2011, it became known that the father of the child was billionaire and owner of Kering Francois-Henri Pinault, who at that time was already the husband of Salma Hayek.
The affair between him and Linda happened at the turn of 2005 and 2006 and lasted about a year, and after that he still chose to marry Salma: the engagement took place in March 2007.
Personal happiness again did not work out, but this time Evangelista won at least financial compensation - she obtained alimony through the court. The lawsuit indicated an amount of 46 thousand dollars per month, but in the end the couple settled out of court.
What now
In recent years, the fashion world has become nostalgic for the era of supermodels. Designers actively invited 90s catwalk stars to their shows; Donatella Versace gathered all her brother's muses at her show. Everyone except Linda Evangelista. Officially, the reason for the absence was not commented on, but everyone thought that it was a matter of lost form. When the show was going on in Milan, the paparazzi caught the model in New York - in a shapeless black coat, hiding her slightly swollen face behind a scarf and baseball cap.
Claudia Schiffer, Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen
Today, the model is rarely seen in public and does not attend social events. Her last notable work dates back to 2016 - then she, along with Turlington and Campbell, starred in a campaign dedicated to the protection of elephants.
Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell
In 2014, she appeared in the Moschino campaign, shot by Steven Meisel. At the same time, she appeared on several covers of Vogue - in the Italian edition, by the way, she still holds the record for the number of covers.
I received letters from readers asking what would happen to the magazine if Linda got sick. 'Cause everything revolved around Linda Evangelista
— Italian Vogue editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani recalled about the model.
However, the paparazzi photographs that appeared in the press after Linda left the business were no longer so ideal. Fans noted that both the appearance and figure of the former supermodel had changed. By the way, she struggled with mild obesity in her youth. At the beginning of her career, Linda was treated with skepticism because she did not meet the ideal parameters and weighed about 60 kilograms.
Natalia Vodianova and Linda Evangelista Irina Shayk and Linda Evangelista
Today Evangelista is not eager to appear in the spotlight: neither to shine in them, nor to talk about old times. She shares the news on her Instagram, where the supermodel is followed by 755 thousand subscribers.
She spends time with her son at home, goes to sports with him, enjoys the outdoors and supports charities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the LGBT rights movement. Additionally, in 2020, Linda became creative director and vice president of the Erasa Skin Care brand.
But the light of her star was so bright that it continues to shine when Linda herself has long since faded into shadow. In 2008, CBS viewers voted her the greatest model of all time, and fashion editors and journalists still remember her as unsurpassed.
Of all the supermodels, it was thanks to Linda that this work took on an artistic form, became closer to art, thanks to her the fees increased, thanks to her, by the end of the eighties, the world of top models became as profitable, glamorous and shrouded in mystery as the world of Hollywood stars,
- wrote about Linda in The Evening Standard. And this perhaps best expresses the scale of her influence on the fashion industry and how we see it now.
Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford
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