Linda Evangelista

Canadian supermodel known for her work with fashion houses including Chanel, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. She appeared on hundreds of fashion magazine covers and was among the internationally recognized supermodels of the 1990s.

Born on May 10, 1965

Age: 61

Profession: Model

Place of Birth: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Linda Evangelista was born on May 10, 1965, in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. She is a Canadian fashion model of Italian ancestry who became internationally known during the late 1980s and 1990s. She worked with designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent, and appeared on more than 700 fashion magazine covers throughout her career. Alongside Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Claudia Schiffer, she was among the models associated with the rise of the supermodel phenomenon during the 1990s.

Early Life and Family Background

Linda Evangelista was born on May 10, 1965, in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Her parents, Tomaso Evangelista and Marisa Evangelista, were Italian immigrants from Pignataro Interamna, in the Lazio region of Italy. Her father worked at General Motors, while her mother worked as a bookkeeper. She grew up in a Catholic family with two brothers.

She attended Denis Morris Catholic High School in St. Catharines. Interested in fashion and modeling from an early age, she attended a modeling school and began participating in local modeling assignments during her teenage years. After graduating from high school, she decided to pursue a professional modeling career rather than continue into higher education.

Beginning of Her Modeling Career

In 1981, Linda Evangelista participated in the Miss Teen Niagara beauty pageant. Although she did not win the competition, she attracted the attention of a representative from Elite Model Management.

At the age of sixteen, she travelled to Japan for a modeling assignment. During her visit, she encountered a situation in which she was pressured to pose nude against her wishes. She refused and contacted her mother, who helped arrange her return to Canada. The experience caused her to withdraw temporarily from modeling.

In 1984, Evangelista moved to New York City and signed with Elite Model Management. She subsequently relocated to Paris, where she began working with European fashion designers and photographers.

One of her first magazine covers appeared in the French fashion publication L'Officiel in 1984. Her career expanded during the following years, and she appeared on the cover of Vogue in 1987.

Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Fashion Career

During the mid-1980s, Linda Evangelista began working with German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who was the creative director of Chanel. She appeared in Chanel fashion shows and advertising campaigns and became one of the models frequently associated with Lagerfeld's collections.

She subsequently worked with numerous fashion designers and fashion houses, including Valentino Garavani, 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, and Isaac Mizrahi.

Her modeling assignments also included campaigns and runway appearances for Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Escada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Max Mara, Perry Ellis, Chloé, Comme des Garçons, Bill Blass, and Hervé Léger.

Evangelista also developed a close professional relationship with Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace, appearing in his runway presentations and advertising campaigns.

The Supermodel Era

In 1988, Linda Evangelista adopted a short hairstyle created by hairstylist Julien d'Ys, following a suggestion from photographer Peter Lindbergh. The haircut became widely associated with her appearance and helped establish her reputation for regularly changing her hairstyle and image.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, she worked extensively with fashion photographer Steven Meisel, who photographed her for numerous magazine covers and advertising campaigns. Their professional collaboration continued for decades.

In January 1990, Evangelista appeared on the cover of British Vogue alongside Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Tatjana Patitz. The photograph was taken by Peter Lindbergh.

Later that year, the five models appeared in the music video for Freedom! '90 by singer George Michael. They subsequently participated in a Versace fashion show in 1991, where they walked the runway together.

By the mid-1990s, Evangelista had worked with many of the fashion industry's major designers and appeared repeatedly on the covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and other international fashion publications.

She temporarily stepped away from modeling in 1998 and returned in 2001, appearing on the cover of American Vogue and in new advertising campaigns. She later walked in Christian Dior's 60th-anniversary haute couture show in 2007 and appeared in a Prada campaign in 2008.

Marriage and Personal Life

Linda Evangelista married Gérald Marie, the head of Elite Model Management's Paris office, on July 4, 1987. The couple divorced in 1993.

During the 1990s, she had a relationship with American actor Kyle MacLachlan. They became engaged but separated in 1998. She subsequently had a relationship with French footballer Fabien Barthez, which ended in 2002.

On October 11, 2006, Evangelista gave birth to her son, Augustin James Evangelista, in New York City. His father is French businessman François-Henri Pinault, with whom she had a brief relationship in 2005 and 2006. Pinault later married actress Salma Hayek.

In 2012, Evangelista and Pinault reached a legal settlement concerning financial support for their son. The terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed.

Health Issues and Return to Modeling

In September 2021, Linda Evangelista publicly disclosed that she had experienced complications following a cosmetic fat-reduction procedure known as CoolSculpting. She said that she had developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, a rare condition in which fatty tissue increases rather than decreases after treatment.

Evangelista filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer, Zeltiq Aesthetics, claiming that the procedure had caused lasting physical changes and affected her modeling career. In July 2022, she announced that the dispute had been settled. The financial terms were not made public.

She returned to fashion campaigns in 2022, appearing in advertisements for Fendi and on the cover of British Vogue.

In 2023, Evangelista disclosed that she had received breast cancer diagnoses in 2018 and 2022 and had undergone treatment. She discussed her experiences in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The Super Models Documentary and Later Career

In September 2023, Linda Evangelista appeared alongside Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington in The Super Models, a four-part documentary series released on Apple TV+. The series examined their modeling careers during the 1980s and 1990s.

That same year, she collaborated with photographer Steven Meisel on Linda Evangelista Photographed by Steven Meisel, a photography book documenting their work together over several decades.

Evangelista continued participating in fashion campaigns and editorial projects. In 2024, she appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia. Her 2025 work included a Harper's Bazaar cover and a campaign celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Zara. In 2026, she appeared in an advertising campaign for Bulgari.