This being London Fashion Week, it’s time for normal women to look wistfully at the catwalk and see not just the clothes but the fabulousness of the women wearing them. Or maybe that’s just me. But if we feel woefully inadequate compared with the models of now, it’s nothing compared to the Nineties, when the first supermodels, created by Gianni Versace, flourished: goddesses whose approach to life was summed up by Linda Evangelista’s cheerful boast that they didn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000.
And it’s Evangelista now who turned the whole supermodel phenomenon into a morality tale when, five years ago, she had a cosmetic procedure, CoolSculpting, which went wrong. It was meant to freeze her fat cells, instead it had the opposite effect. She went into hiding in shame, and stayed there.
But now she’s out and on the cover of US People magazine, declaring that “I won’t hide anymore”. The picture shows us a very different Evangelista: gaunt, with folds on the face that normal women get with age, and ever so slight ageing on the hands. She doesn’t, she says in the interview, look in the mirror anymore because she doesn’t recognise the woman who looks back.
But you know what? The real problem with her is the expression: fearful, unconfident, wary, in a glum-looking brown sweater. But if she were properly made up, wearing something bold, bright and fabulous, it’d be another story. The critical difference between Linda now and Linda then isn’t the lines, it’s the expression.
If you want to see what made the supermodels stand out in the old days, look at Naomi Campbell. She’s 51, and she looks extraordinary. She has that quality that made the supermodels stand out — the lights are on inside. That’s what makes her different from poor Linda.
Linda Evangelista is returning to public view and it’s high time she did. But if she wants to do contemporary women a favour, she shouldn’t be hangdog about her looks. She’s more than her famously sculpted jawline — which actually looks just fine. If she’s going to be a role model as well as a model, she should throw off the glumness and rejoice in the beauty she still has, which is considerable. If she can do it at 56, she’ll do us all a favour.
