All lives are marked by numbers, but in Linda Evangelista’s life they seem to have a special weight. The ten thousand dollars in her well-known phrase are mythical: “I don’t get out of bed for less than 10,000 a day.” His more than 700 covers are also a record, the 17 times he changed his hairstyle, at the height of his career, or the 50 million dollars with which he sued, in 2021, Zeltiq Aesthetics, a company whose supposed rejuvenating treatments They almost finished her off.
Now, a new number is added to his resume: 25 years of work in front of the camera of New Yorker Steven Meisel. A collaboration described as symbiotic and compiled in a book: Linda Evangelista photographed by Steven Meisel, from the Phaidon publishing house.
The volume brings together almost 190 photographs of Evangelista taken by Meisel, since their first joint session in 1987. She was 21 years old and lived in Paris, married to Gérald Marie, director of the Elite agency. Meisel discovered her in a small photo in a European magazine: he liked Linda so much that she sent away the other hired models. She was already a fan of his, so she got on the plane, nervous. “I wanted her to like me, because she loved her work. We connected,” she recalled in an interview in The Wall Street Journal. In it, Meisel adds: “Linda simply shone.”
The book is a testimony of a relationship described by designer Anna Sui, a friend of both, as magical. They add that it is also a celebration of their friendship, as well as a way “to give thanks for the lives and careers we have had.” The photographs from the nineties stand out, when, with her iconic aqua green eyes, the chameleon Evangelista stood out among the tops, being considered one of the most beautiful women in the world.
However, in 2016, it mysteriously disappeared from the glossy pages. Why she would reveal it a few years later, when she said that she had been disfigured by a cosmetic procedure, which had left her on the floor, physically and emotionally. This, however, has not been the only revelation that has shocked her fans: in The Wall Street Journal she has also explained that she has had breast cancer and that her prognosis is uncertain. However, the top, at 58 years old, does not give up: “I know I have one foot in the grave, but I am totally in celebration mode.”
Because Linda Evangelista is a woman with resources: she demonstrated it in 2022, when she overcame her depression, closed a financial agreement with Zeltiq and got back on the catwalk. The reason? Another number, the 25th anniversary of the Fendi baguette bag. Her appearance, in a spectacular light blue coat, received a thunderous ovation. It was the beginning of her return, consolidated with this tribute book and two covers in Vogue.
The last one, with Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell. They all support Linda, but one of her pillars remains Meisel. The photographer has just launched a limited collection for Zara (Steven Meisel New York), inspired by his personal look. He also signs the black and white portraits of the campaign: characters and friends linked to his career, including, of course, Linda Evangelista.
