In September 1996, Yardley London attempted to shed its old-fashioned image by signing Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista to an enormous reported fee of $7.75 million. The deal placed one of the era’s most recognizable faces at the center of Yardley’s modernization campaign, but the glamour failed to reverse the company’s deteriorating fortunes. Less than two years later, in August 1998, Yardley was placed into receivership. The episode became a sharp example of the financial hazards of attaching an expensive celebrity campaign to an established beauty brand whose underlying business was already unstable: Evangelista’s contract generated attention, but it could not prevent corporate collapse. Yardley was acquired by Wella later that year, turning the supermodel relaunch into a symbol of the brand’s failed attempt to buy its way back into cultural relevance.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1990s
Yardley’s $7.75 Million Supermodel Gamble Ends in Receivership
Yardley London / 1990s
In September 1996, Yardley London attempted to shed its old-fashioned image by signing Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista to an enormous reported fee of $7.75 million. The deal placed one of the era’s most recognizable faces at the center of Yardley’s modernization campaign, but the glamour failed to reverse the company’s deteriorating fortunes. Less than two years later, in August 1998, Yardley was placed into receivership. The episode became a sharp example of the financial hazards of attaching an expensive celebrity campaign to an established beauty brand whose underlying business was already unstable: Evangelista’s contract generated attention, but it could not prevent corporate collapse. Yardley was acquired by Wella later that year, turning the supermodel relaunch into a symbol of the brand’s failed attempt to buy its way back into cultural relevance.
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