When Refaeli was twelve years old she had to wear braces on her teeth for three years and couldn’t work as a model, but as soon as she had them removed she went straight to a modeling agency in Israel and immediately started working. . At age 15, Rafaeli returned to modeling with the representation of Irene Marie Models.
Modeling career
Refaeli began her modeling career before the age of 8 months for a baby commercial. During her modeling career she has become known as a photographic model and has appeared in fashion catalogues, among them “Castro”, “Pilpel”, and also starred in a commercial for the product called “Milki”.. Refaeli won the title “Model of The Year” in a beauty contest in 2000 and 2001. She was chosen to be the home model of Renuar fashion network and appeared in their summer 2002 and winter 2003 catalogs.
Refaeli has appeared in ELLE (France), Maxim, and GQ (Italy) and Esquire. She debuted in the 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, becoming the first Israeli model to appear in the magazine, posing with rock band Aerosmith. In 2009, Refaeli was the covermodel for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. A photo from the shoot with Bar in bikini was painted on the side of a Boeing 737 in a promotional deal with Southwest Airlines, which lead to criticism of Southwest from passengers for using an image they regarded as inappropriately sexual and “offensive to families”. In October of the same year, Refaeli was again involved in controversy, when Haredi groups criticised a Tel Aviv billboard campaign in which she appeared semi-nude, alleging that it could spoil the public. The billboards were later removed.
Bar Refaeli has been the spokesperson for fashion brand Luisa Cerano. She has worked with Subaru, Accessorize, Brazilian clothing line Besni, Italian jewelry line Marco Bicego, and Rampage. In 2008, Refaeli became the face of clothing line Hurley, and the Diddy cologne, “I Am King.” In 2009, Bar became the spokesperson of Garnier International and modeled for the 2009/2010 advertising campaign for Morellato watches and jewelry.
On 5 March 2009, Refaeli received the “World Style Award,” presented by the Women’s World Awards, for her “natural elegance, sense of style and compassion.” In October of the same year, Refeali co-hosted Fashionable Istanbul’s press conference announcing their October 2009 fashion event, also appearing in its advertising.
Working as a promotional model for certain companies or brands can bring in solid income.
Personal life
After relationships with Baywatch actor David Charvet and Uri El-Natan, Israeli model began a relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio in November 2005 after meeting him at a Las Vegas party thrown for members of U2. In the course of their trip to Israel in March 2007, the couple met with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli’s hometown of Hod HaSharon. The relationship ended in June 2009. Numerous media reports, however, indicate that in 2010 Bar Refaeli and Leonardo DiCaprio are “back on track”.
In 2007, a controversy was brought about after it opened up that Refaeli had married a family acquaintance and divorced him soon after in order to avoid military service in the Israel Defense Forces, which is mandatory for both men and women. As a result of the adverse publicity, the Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden threatened to boycott the fashion chain Fox if they hired Refaeli, but the two sides reached a compromise in which the model agreed to visit injured IDF soldiers on visits to Israel and encourage enlistment in the army.
In January 2010, the sexy model was again in the headlines when an Israeli army general discovered she had applied to be registered as a non-resident Israeli in order to pay lower taxes.
