Linda Evangelista

New York, July 19 (AP): The modelling industry is all about who’s young, who’s hot and who’s next. Or is it?

Linda Evangelista, 41 and pregnant, is on the cover of the August issue of Vogue. She’s the first model, not a Hollywood star, to be featured on the magazine’s cover in more than a year.

Her pals from the supermodel heyday a decade ago are also faring well: At 36, Naomi Campbell is still queen of the catwalk. Kate Moss, 32, is starring in a half-dozen designer ad campaigns this season, including a fall Versace campaign that also features Christy Turlington, Angela Lindvall, Carolyn Murphy and Daria Werbowy.

Evangelista never saw modelling as a means to another career.

“I decided when I was 12 that it’s what I wanted to do and I count my blessings that I got to realise my dreams,” she says.

“Being a rock star was out of the question. I can’t sing. I’m so glad this worked out for me, I do think I know how to be a good model. And I didn’t have a Plan B in place.”

It helps, too, that she’s a fashion junkie and keeps up on the styles and trends, whether she’s working or not. “I love that it changes every six months. I really love the creative process of making beautiful images. I so enjoy everything about it.”

Turlington, 37, has gone on to other things, including marriage to actor-director Edward Burns, motherhood and her own activewear company, Nuala. Still, she was happy to be called back to duty for Versace.

“I started my career working with the Versaces and it had been years since I saw Donatella,” she says. “It was great to spend a day catching up with old friends and familiar faces. Shooting the campaign was definitely more fun than work.”

Evangelista, whose baby is due this fall, isn’t worried about her post-pregnancy figure.

“I’m not freaked out at all, I embrace it. I believe I’m doing everything to go through this as smoothly as possible. I’m either doing yoga or exercising every day.”

There won’t be a “comeback” after the baby’s birth, Evangelista says, because she doesn’t plan on ever going away.