The death of a model from an eating disorder led Israeli fashion photographer Adi Barkan to drastically alter the ideals of beauty that had guided him throughout his career and turned him into an unlikely activist.
Hila Elmalich, once one of Israel’s top models, died of heart failure as a complication of anorexia at age 34 in 2007. Barkan, who represented her, had tried for years to help her get better, but the pressure to keep her weight down grew pathological.
Barkan worked for years in the glittery fashion capitals of Paris, London and New York, but he stopped shooting underweight women and launched a campaign within the industry worldwide to stop risking models’ lives – and the lives of girls and women everywhere who try to emulate them.
In Israel, Barkan lobbied for legislation that requires a minimum weight for models, which was passed by the Knesset in 2012. Israel is one of the first countries to pass such a bill, but it took Barkan almost 10 years to get lawmakers to take the issue seriously.
Models must now have a body mass index of at least 18.5 and pass a health exam. In addition, pictures that have been altered by Photoshop to make models appear thinner than they are have to be labelled as such.
His work is far from over. Barkan, who has a modelling agency in Tel Aviv, is trying to transform the perception of attractiveness on a global scale with his “Real Unreal Project.”
He also runs Simply U, a program that educates models about proper eating.
It’s not just about promoting healthy body self-image. Barkan is fighting what he terms “a worldwide eating disorders epidemic,” and Israel is not spared. The problem is especially acute among female soldiers, and Barkan speaks frequently to Israel Defence Forces audiences.
He has found a kindred spirit in Montrealer Caroline Bernier, another veteran of the fashion and beauty world, who is the creator of a new reality television series, The Fashion Hero.
“Its mission is to change the unhealthy and unrealistic standards of the fashion and beauty industry by casting people who do not fit the traditional norms of the industry and giving them a chance to be selected by international brands to model in one of their advertising campaigns,” Bernier said.
Barkan, who is a member of the show’s cast, along with one of the finalists, the Israeli Elika Rezvani, were hosted by Israeli Consul General Ziv Nevo Kulman at his residence at the conclusion of their 24-day stay in Montreal this summer for the final filming of this season’s The Fashion Hero.
Women and men aged 16 to 40 from anywhere in the world of any size and shape – “real people with atypical beauty,” but confident in their looks – were sought as contestants. Over 3,000 entries were received from 80 countries.
Each month through the year, the public voted for their favourite, and the top three moved onto the next stage of the competition.
In Montreal, the finalists participated in various challenges, within the framework of the Festival Mode et Design, while benefiting from professional coaching. Four international fashion designers picked the four winners.
The show’s host is Brooke Hogan, daughter of legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan.
Rezvani, 27, who was sworn to secrecy on the outcome of the taped series, bubbled with enthusiasm about her experience. A resident of Jerusalem, she is a fashion design graduate who is trying to get into acting.
“I’m a short, curvy girl, and I’m always going to be that way,” said Rezvani, who was wearing a red “Real Unreal Girl” T-shirt. “I would never otherwise be considered as a model… The media keep telling women like me that we are not good enough.”
She worries about young girls today, not least in Israel, who are growing up too fast, bombarded by impossible images.
She found Barkan to be a real treat to work with. “He is the nicest, kindest person I ever met. You expect someone who worked for Vogue and Cosmopolitan to have airs, but he doesn’t.”
Like Barkan, Bernier – who worked on the Miss Universe pageant – is seeking to unleash a “global movement” that will set new standards the fashion industry will have to follow, rather than the other way around.
They are hoping to sell the show around the world and syndicate it online. Besides the series, The Fashion Hero is an ongoing project. Profiles of applicants are on file and will be disseminated mainly through social media.
Israel’s so-called “anti-skinny model” law, which came into effect in 2013, is having an effect already, Barkan said, but he’d like it to have more teeth. Non-complying modelling agencies and advertisers face stiff fines. He’d like to see that increased to jail terms for repeat offenders.
In the industry now some 35 years, Barkan regrets that he did not recognize the harm much earlier. “I hadn’t even heard of anorexia or bulimia until the late 1990s. It took a girl dying in my arms to realize just how many others had been hurt,” he said
