Julia Haart

Julia Haart (born April 11, 1971), previously Talia Leibov, is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and author. She is the founder of +Body by Julia Haart, a body-positive, technologically advanced shapewear brand. Julia is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Elite Model Management. She previously owned a namesake shoe collection, and was creative director at the Italian luxury house La Perla. Haart is also the subject and executive producer of the Netflix miniseries My Unorthodox Life, which described her 2013 decision to leave her Haredi community.

Early life
Haart was born in Moscow in 1971. She and her parents left Russia when she was 3, and moved to Austin, Texas. In Austin, she attended private school, and was the school's only Jewish student. When Haart was in fourth grade, they moved to Monsey, New York, which has a large Haredi community that appealed to her parents, as they grew more religious.

Haart attended Bais Yaakov Academy in Brooklyn, New York. At 16, she taught herself how to sew, and read fashion magazines in her house. When she was 18, she changed her first name, "to the more Hebrew-sounding Talia, in order to attract a match". After graduating from high school, she attended seminary for one year at Beth Jacob Jerusalem. At 19, she married her first husband, a yeshiva student, five years her senior.

Leaving the Haredi community
While living as a Haredi Jew throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Haart became increasingly uncomfortable with her community. The treatment of her younger daughter, Miriam, bothered her in particular. In a 2021 interview with The New York Times, she said that her daughter "just wouldn't conform. They were doing to her what they had done to me — trying to push her down and mold her into that flat person that they could disappear. I couldn't let that happen."

After leaving the community, she took on the name Julia Haart. The last name Haart is derived from her maiden name, Leibov, which is similar to Lev, Hebrew for "heart".

Early career
At the seminary, Haart obtained a teaching certificate. Thereafter, she taught English and/or Judaic Studies at several Jewish schools: Yeshiva Atlanta in Atlanta;  Sha'arei Torah in Brooklyn;  Bnos Leah Prospect Park Yeshiva High School in Brooklyn;  Yeshiva of Spring Valley in Monsey;  The Adolph Schreiber Hebrew Academy of Rockland (ASHAR) in New City; Bais Rochel in Monsey.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Haart worked as a Judaic Studies teacher at Yeshiva Atlanta; "staff who knew her at the time – when she went by the name Talia Hendler – recalled that she was beloved by students and known for her sharp style". For years, Haart secretly sold life insurance.

Julia Haart Shoe Collection
After leaving the Haredi community in 2013, Haart founded a shoe company, Julia Haart, with the goal to make shoes that were both fashionable and comfortable. She partnered with a ski boot engineer and a German company that creates a gel used by NASA to create a comfortable high-heeled shoe.

La Perla
In 2016, Haart collaborated with La Perla for their Spring and Fall 2016 accessory collections. The same year, she was named as the creative director for the brand.

Following her appointment as Creative Director of La Perla, Haart launched a new approach to ready-to-wear for the company. At La Perla, Haart created the first stretch Leavers lace, and launched a collection of ready-to-wear lingerie with built-in support. For her Fall/Winter 2017 fashion show, Haart constructed a "La Perla Manor" runway show, in which Naomi Campbell, Lindsey Wixson, Sasha Pivovarova and Kendall Jenner walked.

Haart is known for her 2017 Met Gala dress designed for Kendall Jenner. The gown consisted of 85,000 crystals affixed to a single string.

Elite World Group
In March 2019, she became chief executive officer and chief creative officer of the talent media conglomerate Elite World Group (EWG). Under Haart's leadership EWG has re-focused the brand and added new divisions. Elite World Group prioritizes assisting models to monetise their brands and business projects.

Additionally, Haart is the creative director of e1972, a luxury fashion brand launched by Elite World. The collection received a lot of positive media attention, and was celebrated for its "innovation, inclusivity, and inspiring message of empowerment".

Brazen Memoir
In April 2022, Haart released her memoir Brazen, published by Penguin Random House. The book details Haart’s life story from an ultra-religious housewife to shoe designer, to CEO of the modeling agency, Elite World Group.

+Body by Julia Haart
In 2023, Haart launched +Body by Julia Haart, an American shapewear and clothing brand. +Body focuses on body positivity and inclusivity across the brand and practices inclusive sizing. The shapewear was designed to be worn visibly with color-infused fabric technology. The line tackles common issues, fusing materials together to avoid white and seam lines. +Body has been listed as The Very Best Shapewear by The Strategist.

Brazen: My Unorthodox Journey from Long Sleeves to Lingerie
Haart is the author of her memoir, Brazen. It was published on Apr 12, 2022 by Penguin Random House. The memoir was released in audiobook format simultaneously narrated by Julia Haart herself. Brazen received praise from critics. Soon after its release, the book became a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Sunday Times Bestseller.

Brazen chronicles Haart’s journey to fashion and entrepreneurship, the challenges she faced, and her endeavors to break free from an extremist religious sect that once controlled her life.

Legal battles
Following her dismissal from EWG, Haart sued Scaglia in Delaware's Chancery Court, where Freedom Holding Inc, which owns EWG's shares, resides. Haart claimed she is a 50–50 owner of EWG and due to this holds equal shares in the company, and therefore could not be dismissed. On August 4, 2022, Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn of the Delaware Chancery Court issued a ruling that confirmed Silvio Scaglia is the controlling shareholder.

Personal life
Haart has four children with her first husband, Yosef Hendler: Batsheva, Shlomo, Miriam, and Aron. Batsheva, who goes by the last name Haart, is a content creator who was married to Binyamin "Ben" Weinstein from 2012 until their divorce in November 2021. Miriam has also adopted her mother's last name Haart. Aron, who is in high school, splits his time between his parents in Manhattan and Monsey, New York.

In June 2019, Haart married Silvio Scaglia.

Haart is the eldest of eight children, one of whom died in a car accident at the age of 5. Only one of her siblings, a sister named Hannah, has a relationship with her; her parents and other siblings stopped talking to her after she left her Orthodox community.

My Unorthodox Life
Haart is the subject of the Netflix series My Unorthodox Life, which premiered in July 2021. The documentary series follows the professional and personal life of Haart in her role as chief executive officer of Elite World Group, as well as an author, mother and wife. The show has been received critically by many Jewish community members.

In 2022, the Jewish Journal named Haart one of "The Top 10 Jewish Reality TV Stars of All Time."