Daria Werbowy

Daria Werbowy (born 19 November 1983) is a Canadian-Ukrainian former model born in Poland.

Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.

Werbowy has had conflicted feelings about her professional life.

In her first season, Fall/Winter 2003, Werbowy achieved two of modelling's highest feats: the cover of Vogue Italia, thrice (in July, August and October), and Prada's Fall/Winter ad campaign.

Photographed by Steven Meisel, she was presented on the September 2004 cover of American Vogue as one of the "Models of the Moment".

She became a spokesmodel for the French beauty brand Lancôme in 2005.

According to Forbes, Werbowy has appeared on over 50 international Vogue covers.

She retired after ten years in fashion while still one of the industry's top models.

In a retrospective, Vogue dubbed her the "ultimate model muse."

Werbowy, who was born in Poland, holds dual Canadian and Ukrainian citizenship.

She has two siblings: a brother and sister.

When she was three years old, the family moved to Mississauga, a city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, to escape the generational effects that the World Wars had on them.

Werbowy considers herself grateful to Canada as she likely would not have had the same opportunities living in Europe.

In 2005, she was signed a contract with Lancôme.

She has appeared on the cover of magazines such as international editions of Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, V, W, Marie Claire, Allure, Glamour, and Numéro.

Werbowy has walked the runways for Balenciaga, Givenchy, Dior, Tom Ford, Chloé, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Versace, Miu Miu, Alexander McQueen, Prada, John Galliano, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, Karl Lagerfeld, Carolina Herrera, La Perla, Max Mara, Calvin Klein, Missoni, Zac Posen, Moschino, Oscar De La Renta, Roberto Cavalli, Tommy Hilfiger, Valentino, Fendi, Jean Paul Gaultier, Burberry, Celine, Hermès, Michael Kors, Balmain, and Lanvin.

She has appeared in advertising campaigns for Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Hermés, Prada, Missoni, Versace, Celine, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Valentino, Dior, Lancôme, Zara, Balmain, Jean Paul Gaultier, David Yurman, Salvatore Ferragamo, Hugo Boss, Isabel Marant, DSquared2, Loewe, Diane Von Furstenberg, Mango, Balenciaga, Tiffany & Co., AG Adriano Goldschmied, H&M, and Bloomingdale's.

Her earnings between June 2006 and June 2007 were in the order of $3.5 million.

In July 2007, Forbes listed Werbowy as the ninth-highest-earning model in the world after Karolina Kurkova, Natalia Vodianova, Carolyn Murphy, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Heidi Klum, Kate Moss and Gisele Bündchen.

She is an avid sailor and spent three months in 2008, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

On September 6, 2008, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

She is the second Canadian model, after Linda Evangelista, to have a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame.

Earlier that year, Werbowy launched a three-piece makeup collection by Lancôme for Sephora.

The proceeds went to the Vik Muniz charity Centrao Especial for underprivileged youth in Brazil.

Werbowy was one of the faces on one of the fourteen covers of V magazine September 2008 issue.

Each cover boasts a headshot of a famous model, either from the new crop of leading models (Agyness Deyn, Lara Stone, Natasha Poly, Anja Rubik, etc.) or the supermodel era (Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigová).

The covers were photographed by duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

In 2011, she embarked on a two-month expedition from Guatemala, travelling around Central America to Costa Rica.

Werbowy had never seriously considered modelling, being a tomboy, but it was frequently suggested to her by strangers.

At age 14 and 5'11" in stature, she was signed by a local Toronto agency, Susan J. Model & Talent Management, and won a national modelling contest.

After switching to Elite Model Management, Werbowy landed several prominent bookings in Canada, but achieved little international success.

Werbowy lived in England and Greece, where she did not find much work.

Her first runway season was disrupted, and her bookings canceled due to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in New York City.

Thus, she went to Europe.

After an exhausted eight months, Werbowy returned to Canada.

She gave modelling a final shot as a means to fund her art school education, saying, "I returned to New York, met my agent and the next day I had an exclusive deal with Prada. From then on, it was all a bit of a blur."

When the Elite Toronto's head scout, Elmer Olsen, started his own agency, Werbowy followed and her career began to flourish.

Within a few years, and under the guidance of IMG Models, Werbowy gained established her career internationally.

Werbowy holds the record for opening and closing the most shows in one season.

In a 2013 issue of Interview she was quoted as saying: