Supermodel Linda Evangelista's Signature Short Hair Style Revolutionized Her Career
When celebrities need a change in their lives or careers, one of the first places they go to is the salon. Keri Russell and the executive producers of "Felicity" created cultural panic when Russell cut her hair on screen, a short hair makeover she later regretted. And in recent years, Kaley Cuoco, Katy Perry, and Zoë Kravitz are a few of the celebs who totally rocked short hair transformations. Whether those ladies knew it or not, in the late '80s, an up-and-coming model named Linda Evangelista paved the way for women to take those big risks with their hair — and it almost ruined her career. Evangelista's cut is now part of fashion industry history. In the 2023 Apple TV+ docuseries "The Super Models" (via Us Weekly), Evangelista said that she lost work immediately after stylist Julien d'Ys cut her long brown waves into a pixie at the suggestion of photographer Peter Lindbergh.
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"I went to Milano to do the fashion shows where I was booked for 20 shows. As I was doing my fittings, and as they were seeing me, they all started canceling me," Evangelista recalled on the series. She said she only ended up doing four shows that year, but then her luck changed. Her open schedule allowed her to book a job with Vogue Italia to be photographed by Steven Meisel. She made the cover, which led to other Vogue features, and suddenly she was booked and busy. In fact, she said her rate quadrupled as she set a trend, leading women to ask their hairdressers for the short, androgynous cut dubbed "The Linda."
Evangelista's career has endured through hardships
Linda Evangelista has said she regrets her confession to Vogue in 1990 that she doesn't "get out of bed for less than $10,000" per day (via The Independent). It was crass, even if it might've been true. Highlights of Evangelista's career in the '90s include her appearance in George Michael's "Freedom!" video alongside Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington. She also worked on campaigns with companies like Chanel and runway shows for Dior, Donna Karen, Prada, and other iconic brands. Evangelista took risks with her hair color, too, which led to a $5 million Clairol contract.
Even through all her success, Evangelista has had a tragic life that impacted her health, body image, and career. In 2021, she posted on Instagram about being "brutally disfigured" by a CoolSculpting procedure that led her to develop Paradoxical Andipose Hyperplasia (PAH). CoolSculpting is a non-surgical procedure designed to reduce fat. But the fat cells in people with PAH grow larger, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The result is visible, disfigured masses in the treated area that would understandably halt a model's career. Evangelista said she experienced depression because of PAH and its consequences.
She opened up about her 2018 breast cancer diagnosis in the Wall Street Journal in 2023. It was treated with a bilateral mastectomy. She then had a recurrence of cancer in her pectoral muscle in 2022. She treated that, but doctors told Evangelista there's a high likelihood she'll have another recurrence. "I know I have one foot in the grave, but I'm totally in celebration mode," she said.