Daria Werbowy

Daria Werbowy Biography
Daria Werbowy is a popular Canadian model of Ukrainian descent. Although born in Poland, Werbowy holds Ukrainian citizenship. When she was three years old, Werbowy's Ukrainian parents moved to Mississauga, a suburb west of Toronto, Canada. At age fourteen, Werbowy was 5'11", willowy and sporting braces. She attended Cawthra Park Secondary School. She was once romantically linked to actor Josh Hartnett.

Daria Werbowy had never seriously considered modeling, but found herself launched into the business after meeting a schoolmate's mother who headed Toronto's Susan J.Model & Talent Management. At age 14, Werbowy won a national modelling contest, but after a year of working with Susan J. Model & Talent, however, Werbowy thought she could be doing more with another agency and left.

After switching over to Elite Models, Werbowy began landing several prominent bookings in Canada but still had not achieved much international success. When Elite Canada'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 International Management Group (IMG), Werbowy had gained a foothold on the international modelling stage. Daria plans to quit the industry when she turns 25, to become a professional painter, or to open her own gallery, back home in Mississauga, Ontario.

Though she relinquished the world's No.1 runway model status to new "it girls", Werbowy holds the record for opening and closing the most shows in one season. To date, Werbowy's clients have included Lancôme, Prada, Yves Saint-Laurent, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Hermès, Valentino, David Yurman, Missoni, Versace, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, altogether she has posed on 21 covers of Vogue (magazine). In her first season, Fall/Winter 2003, Werbowy captured two of the modeling worlds most coveted assignments: the cover of Vogue Italia, thrice (in July, August and October); and Prada's Fall/Winter ad campaign.

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