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Daria Werbowy has always embodied a certain type of girl. The Polish-Canadian supermodel, who turns 35 this week, took on many guises during the decade she spent in the modeling business, but wild scenarios and elaborate styling never seemed to matter as much as Werbowy’s nonchalant attitude. Once an inescapable presence in the ads for Phoebe Philo’s Céline campaigns—and on the runway for Prada, Gucci, Versace, and more—Werbowy stepped away from fashion two years ago but her presence looms large. The ultimate cool girl came on the scene in 2003, long before social media and celebrity connections became mandatory for new faces. All that mattered was “the look “and Werboy with her wide eyes and aquiline nose had it in spades.
In the pages of Vogue, photographers put Werbowy’s chameleonic qualities to good use. Capable of transforming to suit each story, she was a Balenciaga-clad vixen in David Sims’s expressive studio shoots and a stylized flapper for Steven Meisel. A performer in front of the camera, she portrayed Hollywood legend Ava Gardner and a French aristocrat in the court of Louis XIV, but many of her best moments came when she was simply being herself. With her athleticism on full display, she scaled rocks, surfed, and jumped in the highest of heels, making each feat seem easy and posing alongside cinema’s top talent—Hugh Nancy, David Strathairn, and Jake Gyllenhaal among them—she gave the actors a run for their money.
By the time Werbowy landed on the cover opposite aughts MVPs like Natalia Vodianova and Gisele Bündchen, Werbowy had one foot out the door. Skilled as a photographer and an avid sailor, her passions took her in fresh directions. Though she’s currently retired and enjoying the fruits of her labors, this year’s wave of runway returns proves you should never say never when it comes to supermodel revivals. A look back through her best editorials shows exactly why Werbowy remains the standard for muses everywhere.