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Did fashion kill Larissa?
By CARLY CRAWFORD and MARINA CRAIG
INTERNATIONAL catwalk star Larissa Brdar may have been
a victim of the fashion industry's twin obsessions with
appearance and youth.
Her sudden death has shattered her Adelaide
family and devastated her flatmate, former Essendon football
player Mark Mercuri.
Mercuri found his glamorous boarder dead in his North
Melbourne flat on May 16 after a weekend interstate.
Ms Brdar, a model and make-up artist,
had been renting a room in his flat.
It is the second time Mercuri has been
confronted with untimely death -- his younger brother
Robert died suddenly in 2000. Mercuri, who retired from
football last year, is now overseas.
Paramedics and police found prescription
drugs at the scene of Ms Brdar's death, although the official
cause of death remains unknown.
The Victorian coroner's office is investigating
and toxicology tests are underway.
There is speculation Ms Brdar, who was
to turn 29 in August, may have fallen victim to the fashion
industry's obsession with appearance.
She had been in the transitional phase
of her fashion career, landing fewer exclusive modelling
jobs and focusing on work as a make-up artist.
A friend and fashion industry colleague
said Larissa had been told she would not make it as a
top model.
"Larissa felt she was being left
behind," the friend said.
"She told me people in the industry
had said she wasn't going to make it as an international
model -- even though she had already got work overseas
-- and she should concentrate on her make-up career.
"She was a beautiful person but
very sensitive and emotional. I think she was also worried
about getting older."
In January, Ms Brdar launched her career
in make-up art with agency Cameron's, but remained a model
with the elite agency Chadwick.
She attended regular casting calls, most
recently for Diana Ferrari, Joanne Mercer and some department
stores.
A source close to the coronial investigation
into her death said she had been in a dark mood before
her death.
"There was mention that she'd missed
out on a big modelling job and she hadn't had a boyfriend
for a while," the investigator said.
But Ms Brdar's modelling manager, Matthew
Anderson of Chadwick Models, doubted the ups and downs
of the industry had pushed her over the edge.
"She's been modelling for a long
time and your whole life is 'yes' or 'no', so she would
have been used to that," he said.
"She didn't take it personally,
so that wouldn't have been a factor at all."
A model since 17, Mr Anderson said she
had modelled in New York, Milan, South Africa, Germany
and United Kingdom, but was in the "transitional
phase" of her career. He said her recent work was
in brochures, and she had worked for the game show Deal
or No Deal.
Mr Anderson said younger models were
more popular for runway work and that, at the time of
her death, Larissa had been focused on building her career
in make-up art.
Life-long associate Katarina Orlivic
described Larissa as a dear friend.
"She should be remembered as a genuine,
honest, caring and successful person. She was a beautiful
person both inside and out," she said.
She had lived and worked in Adelaide,
Melbourne and Sydney after growing up in South Australia's
Port Lincoln.
Ms Brdar's close family was devastated.
Brother Anthony said the family was trying to learn to
live without her.
"From the moment Larissa began modelling
in her teens she was a success. She had a gift. She had
the touch. She was born with style."
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