Tabloids continue to heat up the Eva H. controversy, some choosing delibarately really awful pictures of her. But even in this "positive" pic from the backstage of the de la Renta show yesterday, you can tell something is wrong. If you compare it to her appearance in the 1994 show (pic below), it is clear she is not healthy, as implies the following report from The Sun:

WITH dark red circles around her eyes and a crop of spots, supermodel Eva Herzigova is unrecognisable as the girl whose sensational 36C cleavage once stopped traffic.

Today she is painfully thin, with cold sores around her mouth, and she appears to have adopted the hollowed look of a drug addict in the depths of despair.

Eva’s curves once featured on billboards advertising the Wonderbra with the famous “Hello Boys” slogan.

It was one of the most enduring images of the Nineties.

The ad was reported to be so distracting that male drivers took their eyes off the road to get a good look.

But as The Sun revealed yesterday, the Czech-born model appeared a shadow of her former self at a New York fashion show this week, and friends have since been questioning the state of her health.

Painfully gaunt, and looking as if she had not slept for weeks, she drew gasps of horror from onlookers backstage at the Heatherette autumn launch as she revealed her new “heroin chic” image.

Her appearance rapidly became the talk of the show, with many left wondering if the 5ft 10in catwalk queen was seriously ill.

Sporting a dark cropped wig, 30-year-old Eva — the face of Louis Vuitton and a model for Hugo Boss — was seen stumbling about backstage.

One onlooker said: “Eva looked dreadful. She was dishevelled, a bit all over the place, and waltzing around the dressing rooms in very high spirits.

“She was carrying a bottle of funny brown liquid — it certainly wasn’t water. She looked like she hadn’t slept for days.”

Ten years ago “heroin chic” was all the rage on the catwalk but Eva’s curves set her apart from the trend (pic below).

However since then she has lost a huge amount of weight, notably after her marriage to Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres collapsed in 1998, and also over the past few months.

The fashion industry has become notorious after a series of high-profile models fell victim to the excesses of their party lifestyles.

Naomi Campbell has admitted to a long battle with cocaine addiction, Kate Moss — the model who pioneered the “superwaif” look — has had a spell in The Priory clinic for “emotional problems” and in December Dutch-born model Karen Mulder collapsed in Paris following an overdose.

Officially, Eva’s representatives deny she is ill, or even that there is anything wrong with her.

Anna Wintour, the editor of American Vogue, provoked outrage when she claimed Eva looked fantastic and booked her for a photo shoot.

Eva appears in three high-profile ad campaigns in the current edition, earning her around £100,000.

Anna herself is stick-thin, and as Vogue editor is diet-obsessed and an influential figure in the fashion world.

Her approval of Eva’s emaciated image indicates the return of heroin chic.

Dr Robert Lefever, founder of the Promis Recovery Centres for Addiction in London and Kent, says anorexics are often attracted to professions such as modelling.

He says: “I am sorry that Eva is so thin and gaunt. “Just as an alcoholic will try to get a job in a pub, an anorexic will gravitate towards a job which means they can stop eating.

“Obviously, the working environment in the fashion industry is perfect.

“Body obsession, the availability of drugs, the constant pressure to be thin – they all make it easier for the addict to fit in.”

Dr Lefever adds: "We have treated models and girls in other jobs who come to us after realising their lives are out of control.

“Sometimes a girl may go from an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia to taking Es and amphetamine-type slimming pills, and then to trying cocaine and even heroin.”

Eileen Murphy is a psychotherapist specialising in eating disorders. She says: “When I saw the picture of Eva I was horrified.

However, she may think she looks great, as anorexia affects brain chemistry, giving sufferers a distorted impression of their size.

“I would also be worried about a magazine editor who signed up such a thin girl for her fashion pages.

“There was a time when editors were using more natural-looking girls and now we seem to be back to thin, childlike images again, which is very sad.”

As well as looking thin, Eva showed other signs of anorexia, such as her arms appearing downy.

Her shoes were also apparently two sizes too big.

Eileen says: “The symptoms of anorexia are very clear. The downy hair on the arms and sides of the face are a tell-tale sign.

“Feet do often shrink, but in my experience, when they shrink by two sizes the patient is usually hospitalised.”

Eileen emphasises the pressures facing models.

She says: “A top model is often treated as a valuable commodity rather than a living person.

“This can lead to severe loss of self-esteem.”

The Financial Times published today a rare interview with Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines. Black is the woman who could decide the fate of Harper's Bazaar and its editor, Glenda Bailey.

Most of the conversation was dedicated to the success of O and the contrast between this magazine and other celebrity-based mags, like Rosie and Martha Stewart. Black speaks also about Cosmo, Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire.

I find it strange that although one of her top-editors is in the middle of a buzz campaign about her imminent desmise, Black wouldn't say something that could be interpreted as a backing of Glenda Bailey. Or at least she could say something neutral, like "it's only her first year" etc.

In fact, she gives the interviewer some of the 2002's numbers, which translated in the FT as the following cryptic paragraph:

i>There were increases at 14 of its titles including Country Living, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Redbook and House Beautiful, with industry peers noting a particular upturn in luxury goods advertising. Harper’s Bazaar, the fashion title, remains the noticeable under-performer, however.

If I was Glenda Bailey, i would be worried.