Julia Haart Says Neither Religion Nor Fashion Should Be One-Size-Fits-All
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For Julia Haart, everything she does "is about giving women choice." Coming from an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community where she felt she had few, the star of Netflix’s new reality show, My Unorthodox Life, has a simple, but ambitious as hell mission: "All I want is for women to get to choose on their own," she tells Women’s Health. "And for no society, no culture, no religion, and certainly no man telling them what they should wear, what they should do, how they should live their lives."
My Unorthodox Life has been criticized by some viewers who believe it negatively portrays ultra-Orthodox Judaism; others see themselves in Julia and her family. But the mixed response to the show only reinforces the ethos fueling Julia’s life: Like fashion, religion shouldn't be one-size-fits-all.
The Haart family are proof of that in a microcosm, each trying Judaism on for size and customizing it to fit their individual needs and wants. Julia and youngest daughter Miriam Haart aren’t religious at all. Meanwhile, eldest daughter Batsheva and husband Ben Weinstein hover somewhere in the middle of their old lives and new ones, still keeping Shabbat and kosher. Julia's eldest son, Shlomo Haart still observes the Sabbath, too, but recently stopped wearing his kippa every day. The fashion mogul's youngest, Aron Hendler, is a self-described “black hatter” who believes in the importance of studying Torah.
What they all have in common: the freedom to choose—and change their mind as their individual relationships with religion evolve. For the majority of her life, Julia didn’t have that luxury. That’s not to say many ultra-Orthodox women aren’t happy (hundreds of #MyOrthodoxLife Instagram posts show those who are), but she wasn’t.
Julia champions self-determination, whether it's about what you believe—or what you wear.
Nearly a decade after leaving the ultra-Orthodox community, Julia hopes sharing her story can empower any marginalized group to advocate for more freedom of choice. "Think about how many cultural changes have been made because we've said what was accepted in the past is not okay," Julia says. "Does that come from hate or from a desire to make a better world? I believe it comes from a desire to make a better world. That's why I'm very careful how I speak about it, because it isn't about people; it isn't about Jews; it's about fundamentalism."
That even extends to the world of fashion, where Julia is planning her next revolution with Elite World Group’s newest venture: sizeless clothing, set to launch next year. "I don't like the idea of sizes. I understand they are a necessity in regular stores, but so many women have told me how uncomfortable they feel walking into a shop and saying [to a sales associate], 'Hey I'm a size X,'" she says. "They're made to feel ashamed or bad, and I hate that. I genuinely cannot stand it. Women are beautiful—period, end of story."
While it’s relatively easy to tailor a garment to fit your measurements, it’s often viewed as fixing a problem. But with sizeless clothing, your body is the solution. Instead of mass-producing garments in various "standard" sizes, everything in EWG’s size-free collection (launching next year) is made to measure.
The personalized process begins when a customer gets fitted in-person at one of EWG’s agencies or uses their phone to order and send measurements to the company. Either way, you’ll end up with a couture garment—without ever worrying about it being the “right” size. You’ll know it is because it’s yours. (It's worth noting that level of customization comes at a high price—Julia says the sizeless collection is made of "the most expensive materials in the world" and is meant to be bought in "small quantities.")
Customers can also modify the clothing itself, meaning they “can make it more modest,” explains Julia. "You can say ‘I want my neckline high; I want my hemline longer.’ It’s about giving women choice." Ultimately, Julia wants an ultra-Orthodox woman to feel as comfortable in one of her garments as she does in a pair of bedazzled shorts.
Those may seem like small stakes, but for women who grew up without choices—or at least fewer than their male counterparts—a hemline can be the beginning of a whole new everything.
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