. . . .
Daria has been in the fashion game a long time
By Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Daria Werbowy was discovered at 14. This
is not unusual in the modeling industry, in fact it’s nearly
commonplace. Longevity as a model is a lot harder to come by, and after
15 years, Daria Werbowy is showing no signs of slowing down. She is
currently one of the highest paid models in the world, bringing home
between $3 to $4 million every year. What’s really interesting is that
you can watch her develop over the years. Apparently when Helmut Newton
met her as a young model, he said “Whatever happened to women?” At the
time, Daria was only 20. Looking at some of her fashion magazine images
now, she’s would likely be one of his muses.
Her Instagram photos are awesome
Look, there are a lot of models on
social media. Most of them give us sneak-peeks in to their personal
lives or backstage access to fashion shoots and runway shows. It’s super
happy fun times for fashion enthusiasts. But not all who appear in
beautiful pictures are great at taking beautiful pictures. Sure,
I’m a fashion enthusiast. But first and foremost I am an image
enthusiast, and out of all the models on Instagram, Daria Werbowy hands
down has the best Instagram pictures. The woman has a wonderful eye for
composition, and captures her travels over land and sea. When you’re not
getting coffee table book-quality landscapes, there are close-ups of
critters in action (moth wings were made for Instagraming), and selfies
that look like they came from published editorials. So perhaps it
shouldn’t be surprising that Daria Werbowy decided to officially take a
step forward in pursuing a new career in photography. She even recently
shot the fall 2014 campaign for the French label “Equipment” which
featured a series of raw self-portraits. Check out Daria’s Instagram
account here.
Daria Werbowy is an adventurer
Daria by Cass Bird for T Magazine
While she spends most of her time traveling the world, Daria’s real passion is the water.
Werbowy’s love of sailing is so tied to her identity that Grace
Coddington even made note of it in her memoir. This is not a “boats are
nice, lets go out for a spin” love of sailing. Daria is hard-core. Like,
sail across the Atlantic, hard-core. Like competing solo in the Volvo Ocean Race,
hard-core. “Sailing is the closest I can get to nature – it’s
adrenaline, fear, a constant challenge and learning experience, an
adventure into the unknown,” explains Daria, “And of course there is
nothing better than wearing the same T-shirt for days and not brushing
my hair for weeks.” It takes real commitment to the rush to put yourself
out on the open water, but with an avid sailing-fan father, she grew up
with it. Basically, Daria is no amateur, and you should not try this at
home.
She’s versatile
Obviously being versatile ranks high in
the job description for models, and yet many models are known for a
specific “look”. Daria Werbowy seems to be able to bend her beauty to
the aesthetic of the photographer, somehow simultaneously blending in
and standing out. Not many models can go from a glamorous Testino shoot
to raw and captivating for Juergen Teller, and manage to be convincing
in both of them. With all of the magazine covers Daria Werbowy has been
scoring lately, and her numerous campaigns (most notably Lancome), she
easily and frequently dominates the pages of magazines. When we don’t
immediately notice that the ethereal beauty in the makeup ads, the
haunting woman selling us Celine, and the alien dressed in Balenciaga
are all the same person as the Farrah Fawcett-haired cover model, then
somebody is very, very good at her job.
Ms. Werbowy genuinely seems like a cool chick
There are the obvious signs of cool –
her personal style of leather jackets and loose tee’s, the fact that
Daria isn’t posing on red carpets, her general laid-back-ness in interviews.
But what really sticks out is that she doesn’t take anything for
granted. In addition to giving back (she worked with Lancome to develop a
small line of makeup, with the proceeds going to charity), Daria seems
genuinely grateful for, and self aware of, just how lucky she is. ‘The
great thing about my Lancôme deal is I get to be not just a model, I get
a voice,’ she says in an interview with Telegraph UK. ‘Sometimes I wish
I didn’t have one because I get really insecure about what I say. But
at the end of the day, it is what it is, and I always try to speak the
truth.’
Daria is an amazing artist
Cover of Interview, by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Although infamously shy about showing
her work to the public, Daria has been obsessed with art since her early
teens. In fact, it was kind of the reason she got into modeling to
begin with. The money she made was meant to fund her art supplies. As a
knobby kneed 14 year old, Daria’s initial go at modeling didn’t go as
well as she planned. Werbowy was about to give up when her father
convinced her to give it one more shot before heading off to art school.
“I returned to New York, met my agent and the next day I had an
exclusive deal with Prada,” she says of that pivotal moment, “From then
on it was all a bit of a blur.” Though she has yet to have a solo show,
she has donated her work to charity art galleries where the proceeds
went to help at risk youth. And if that doesn’t convince you that Daria
is hands down one of the most humble, generous, inspiring not to mention
beautiful models in the industry, nothing will.
0 comments:
Post a Comment