Isabelle Caro: An Anorexic Model Died at 28

Isabelle Caro was a French model from Marseille, France, who became well-known after appearing in a controversial ad campaign "No Anorexia" which showed Caro with vertebrae and facial bones protruding in a picture by photographer Oliviero Toscani.

She suffered from severe anorexia nervosa since she was 13 years old. Her anorexia was caused by what she calls a "troubled childhood." When she appeared on CBS's The Insider, it was revealed that at the worst of her eating disorder, her weight had gone as low as 25 kilograms (55 lb; 3 st 13 lb) at a height of 1.65 metres (5 ft 5 in); her most recent weight was 33 kilograms (73 lb; 5 st 3 lb).

She appeared on C4's Supersize vs Superskinny which aired on 11 March 2008, in which she spoke to journalist Anna Richardson about her anorexia. Caro was hospitalized for the first time when she was 20. At her worst, in 2006, she slipped into a coma, weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg; 3 st 13 lb). The doctor said she wouldn't survive the coma but she did.

Caro was also interviewed in the second episode of the TV documentary series, The Price of Beauty, in which Jessica Simpson and her two best friends, Ken Pavés and CaCee Cobb, traveled the world to explore the meaning of true beauty. Jessica investigated the problem of how some female fashion models have become obsessed with being skinny. Caro talked about how she became anorexic and warned other girls about the affliction. Jessica was moved to say “What you are doing right now makes you more beautiful and I hope women all over the world hear about the story and it is important to know that how skinny you are does not make you beautiful.” The episode was set entirely in France, where a key philosophy of beauty is to enjoy each moment and live it to the fullest, known as joie de vivre in French. It aired on March 22, 2010 in the USA and on August 21 in Japan.

Watch Isabelle Caro's appearance on The Price of Beauty with Jessica Simpson

Isabelle Caro died on 17 November 2010 in Tokyo, Japan, after spending about two weeks in hospital with acute respiratory disease although nobody knows the cause of her death. Her family only reported Isabelle's death to the media on December 29, 2010.