Does Linda Evangelista Have Kids?

The Short Answer

Linda Evangelista is 61 years old — born on May 10, 1965. That makes Linda Evangelista one of the most-searched public figures for age-related questions, with fans regularly looking up birthday and family details.

Linda Evangelista: Early Life and Background

Linda Evangelista ( EE-van-jə-LEE-stə; Italian: [evandʒeˈlista]; born May 10, 1965) is a Canadian fashion model. She is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential models of all time, and has been featured on over 700 magazine covers. Evangelista is primarily known for being the longtime muse of photographer Steven Meisel, as well as for the phrase: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day."

Evangelista's modelling career began in 1984, when she signed with Elite Model Management after moving from Canada to New York City. Upon the suggestion of photographer Peter Lindbergh, Evangelista had her hair cut short in 1988.

Described as the "chameleon" of the fashion industry and one of the "Big 6" supermodels (with Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford), Evangelista was one of the most famous women in the world during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.

Unlike her colleagues, Evangelista chose not to diversify into other ventures outside of modelling. She retired from her career in 1998 and made a comeback three years later, this time working only sporadically. Her achievements as a model led to her being voted as "The Greatest Supermodel of All Time" by the viewers of the television show Fashion File in 2008.

Career and Rise to Fame

Early life

Evangelista was born into a strict working-class Catholic family on May 10, 1965, in St. Catharines, Niagara Region, Ontario. Her parents, Tomaso "Tom" Evangelista (died 2014) and Marisa, had emigrated from Pignataro Interamna, Lazio, Italy. Tom worked for General Motors following his emigration in 1957, and Marisa is a bookkeeper. The second of three children, Evangelista has two brothers.

At the age of 12, Evangelista attended a self-improvement course in a modelling school, where she was taught things such as poise and etiquette and advised to attend a modelling course. Evangelista attended Denis Morris Catholic High School. She started modelling locally as a teenager. In 1981, Evangelista took part in the Miss Teen Niagara beauty pageant; while she did not win it, she caught the eye of a representative from Elite Model Management. At the age of 16, Evangelista flew to Japan to work as a model, but an unpleasant experience involving nudity during an assignment made her want to stop modelling altogether. She subsequently returned to Canada, and two years went by before she decided to try her hand at modelling again.

1984–1987: Early career

Age and Birthday Details

Linda Evangelista was born on May 10, 1965.

As of 2026, Linda Evangelista is 61 years old.

Birthday milestones for public figures like Linda Evangelista routinely trend on social media, which is why "how old is" questions generate such consistent search demand.

Personal Life and Family

Evangelista moved to New York City in 1984 upon signing with Elite, where she met the modelling agent John Casablancas, who compared her likeness to the model Joan Severance. Elite then moved Evangelista to Paris, where she launched her international high-fashion career at the age of 19. Her first major fashion magazine cover was for the November 1984 issue of L'Officiel. Subsequently, she appeared on the covers and in the pages of a variety of international publications, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Elle, W, Marie Claire, Allure, Time, Interview, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Cigar Aficionado, and i-D. She appeared on a total of more than 700 covers worldwide.

In 1985, Evangelista began working with Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer of the fashion house Chanel, to whom she would become a muse. On the subject of Evangelista, Lagerfeld once uttered, "There is not another model in the world as professional as she is." Evangelista became one of the first editorial models to successfully cross over into the realm of runway modelling, with her agent Piero Piazzi successfully booking her to walk for fashion designer Gianni Versace, for whom she became a muse. She first appeared in a Versace ad campaign in 1987. She also modelled for various other fashion brands such as Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, 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, Isaac Mizrahi, Escada, Calvin Klein, Salvatore Ferragamo, Max Mara, Perry Ellis, Chloé, Comme des Garçons, Bill Blass, and Herve Leger. She has represented a diverse array of other companies and non-fashion brands like Visa, American Express, Pizza Hut, De Beers, and Elizabeth Arden.

In 1986, Evangelista met the photographer Steven Meisel, with whom she forged a friendship. From that point on, they began working together on many professional collaborations, and Evangelista became Meisel's muse in the process. Starting in 1987, Evangelista began to appear in advertisements and commercials for Revlon's "The Most Unforgettable Women in the World" campaign, which was photographed by Richard Avedon. She has also been photographed by Peter Lindbergh, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Patrick Demarchelier, Paolo Roversi, Norman Parkinson, Arthur Elgort, Gilles Bensimon, Ellen von Unwerth, Sante D'Orazio, and Nick Knight among others.

1988–1992: Career breakthrough and supermodel era

Recent Years

It was Lindbergh who, in the autumn of 1988, suggested to Evangelista that she cut her hair short after seeing her try on a short wig for a photoshoot. Consequently, she got a short gamine haircut from the French hairstylist Julien d'Ys. The following day, she was photographed by Lindbergh, which resulted in a now-famous photograph known as "the white shirt picture". Initially, the haircut was not well received by the fashion industry, and Evangelista was cancelled from 16 fashion shows. By the spring of 1989, her haircut was the look of the season. The haircut was referred to as "The Linda", and it inspired the creation of a wig called "The Evangelista". Even famous women sought to emulate the look. Among them were Demi Moore, who sported the haircut in the 1990 film Ghost, and Susan Sullivan from the television show Falcon Crest. It has been said of Evangelista that "the world's most famous haircut turned her from an averagely in-demand top model to an insanely in-demand, only-Linda-will-do top model, so sensationally successful that the word 'supermodel' had to be coined to describe her".

Evangelista became known as one of the five supermodels, a group of star models who reached the pinnacle of success during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The supermodels were considered more famous than most actresses and singers of that time. In addition, Evangelista, along with Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell comprised a triumvirate that was dubbed "The Trinity". They were joined by Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz for the cover of the January 1990 issue of British Vogue, which was photographed by Lindbergh. The cover itself was said to have "defined the supermodel era". Upon seeing the cover, singer George Michael chose to cast them in the music video for his song "Freedom! '90". In May of that year, Evangelista was chosen as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People. She also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show where she served as a judge for an Elite model search competition, and chose Leslie Bibb as the winner, who later became an actress.

In an interview printed in the October 1990 issue of Vogue, Evangelista said: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day" (equivalent to $25,000 in 2025). That statement is now thought of as the most famous quote in modelling history, and it has been described as "the 'Let them eat cake' of the 20th century". Also in October 1990, Evangelista stunned the fashion world by having the hairstylist Oribe dye her naturally brown hair platinum blonde. Months later, she had her hair dyed a shocking shade of red known as "technicolor red". Throughout most of her modelling career, Evangelista was referred to as the fashion industry's "chameleon" for the way that she constantly reinvented herself with various hairstyles and ever-changing hair colours that inspired hair trends. In terms of her looks, she was likened to Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Gina Lollobrigida.

In 1991, it was rumoured that the fashion house Lanvin paid Evangelista $20,000 to walk in their haute couture show for the spring/summer season, an amount that was considered excessive. Model Tyson Beckford recounted in an interview that Evangelista was instrumental in getting higher rates for models. That April, Evangelista waived her runway fee as an act of support for fashion designer Anna Sui's debut collection, and instead accepted clothing as payment. Two months later, she attended Valentino's 30th Anniversary Gala in Rome, Italy with Meisel. In September 1991, Time featured a cover story on the supermodels. The following month, in an article for Vogue, fashion journalist Suzy Menkes...

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