French model became the face of the disorder after ad campaign

Anti-anorexia model dies at 28

French model became the face of the disorder after ad campaign

Her longtime acting instructor, Daniele Dubreuil-Prevot, said Caro died on November 17 after returning to France from a job in Tokyo.

Dubreuil-Prevot said she did not know the cause of death but that Caro "had been sick for a long time," referring to her anorexia.

Caro featured in an ad campaign by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in 2007 for an Italian fashion house. Under the headline 'No Anorexia' images across newspapers and billboards showed Caro naked, vertebrae and facial bones protruding.

In later interviews, she said she weighed about 27 kilogrammes when the photos were taken.

Caro said on her blog and in interviews that she had suffered from anorexia since she was 13. She wrote a book published in France in 2008 titled "The Little Girl Who Didn't Want to Get Fat."

The Italian ad campaign came as the fashion industry came under an unusually bright spotlight about anorexia after a 21-year-old Brazilian model died from the eating disorder. Her agent, Sylvie Fabregon, said it was intended "to show what it is like to be anorexic".

Some groups working with anorexics warned, however, that it did a disservice to those afflicted with the disorder.

Images of Caro appeared on so-called pro-ana, or pro-anorexia websites. On Wednesday, one posted a notice about her death and a photo of her, large blue-green eyes peering over a child-size upper arm, with the caption, 'die young, stay pretty'.

Her life and death drew other kinds of followers as well.

Caro herself spoke out about her anorexia and her efforts to recover, and the menace of eating disorders on the fashion industry.

Her acting instructor described years in and out of hospitals. Her death and her illness "are an absolute waste," Dubreuil-Prevot said.

Caro's Facebook page says she was born on September 12, 1982. She took violin lessons and then acting lessons in Nantes and Versailles, according to Dubreuil-Prevot.

Media attention

The Italian ad campaign got Caro widespread attention in media in countries around Europe and in the United States.

She subsequently served as a member of the jury on Top Model France, and worked periodically as a film and television actress.

Caro's father alerted a few close friends at the time of her death and a funeral service was held in Paris, according to Dubreuil-Prevot.

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