How”disco chicken in midnight” became this year’s must-have evening bag.

They look like the handiwork of Scheherazade: vinatge plumes, tiny rows of wooden balls, turquoise drops dripping and swaying from gem-dusted bracelets. The are the spectacularly imaginative beaded bags by new designer Beatrice Valdes. ”I have 22 beaders in my workshop,” says the Manila - born 31 years old, whose family has been in the fine-jewelry trade for three generations. Valdes christens her fantastic bags with equally fantastic names, such as ”disco chicken in midnight”, a crescent-shaped purse covered in feathers, or ”zou zou carousel,” a mint-green pouch swirling with Australian crystals. She collects the exotic baubles for her purses from placesas diverse as Arizona and Paris, then ships everything to Manila to be embroidered using Philippine techniques. The bags, which can be found at Kirna Zabete and Barneys New York, exude a global grovvy glamour that is essential Valdes (she herself wears Chip&Pepper jeans with her grandmother’s Rene Caovilla pumps). ”I love details that celebrate workmanship,” says Valdes. ”Even the box my bags comes in are padded at the bottom!” [Irina Arakas]

Her feminine glance, natural elegance, and her intelligent attitude has made her the best.
She is the girl of the moment. Daria’s face is familliar to all of us: her blue and intelligent eyes look to us from magazine covers and editorials, from exclusive ad campgains and runways, while her hands hold the bottle of “Hypnôse”, the last fragrance from Lancôme.

23 years old, originally from Warsaw, but at the age of 3 moved to Toronto, where she grew up and where still is her home, has become the model and the most favourite for many designers, as well photographers. The reasons: she is 1,80 m tall, femine and with mysterious glance, elegant movement and her attitude to constant learning. “Daria is divine, ironic, adorable…”, says about her Karl Lagerfeld.

She has walked for YSL, Dior, Gucci, Vuitton, and so more to continue … and has apperead in advertising campaigns for Prada (she was the image of perfume), Missoni, Chanel, Zara… Chosen as the Best Model of the Year by Marie Claire international jury and ‘’mother’’ of the Prix of the Fashion of Marie Claire Spain, Daria has traveled to Madrid to gather this prize with pride.
She stays in the hotel Santo Mauro in Madrid with two bodyguards, her agent Elizabeth Agostino, from IMG agency, and her friend, Deirdre.
With a black coffee and a cigarette Daria patientaly waits while her make up is done, though there is not need for that as her skin is a perfection. Her beggining of career goes back when she was 14 years old, but her career started to take off when she reached the age of 17.  

Friday morning, Little Italy. It is short after eight and freezing cold in New York. Julia Stegner, 21 just had breakfast. Today there’s a shooting for the german issue of “Vogue” in Brooklyn. Stegner, 1,83 Meter tall (1,83 Meter = 6.00 feet), (…)

Gala: In 2005 you represented Victoria’s Secret and you also received the Bambi. So you’re going to be the Nr. 1 of the Supermodels in 2006?
Julia: The big time of the Supermodels is over. I will be walking the shows in Paris and Milan just like the last year. Many people think, I had my breaktrough in 2005, but that is not right. I started modeling 3 years ago and was lucky to start on top- niveau directly. In my first season I opened and closed the show of Yves Saint Laurent and did campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren. Since 3 years I made it to work on this level. That’s the real difficulty: to be constant in this business.
 

Gala: Now you got a Chauffeur and here in New York your living the dream of so many girls. Could you describe it?
Julia: In summer I also ride bike, it’s not always that glamorous (laughing). The biggest part of this dream is discipline and hard work. I still have the same friends and the same hobbies. In Munich I’m sharing my mother’s old VW golf with my sister.

Gala:So, how is your day like?
Julia: If I’m not working, just like the day of everybody else. I meet friends, go shopping or do sports. I just started doing Pilates, which I really like. If there’s time I love playing basketball. I played centre-position in my club in Munich.

Gala: From being student in Munich to being Top model there was not much time left. Did your carrier also had shady sides up to now?
Julia: No. Of course I had to get used to the business, I was homesick, missed my family, my dog and my friends in Munich. It took some time, but I also got used to being away from home for a long time. Meanwhile I got friends in New York and have my own life here.

Gala: Tell us about your love-life?
Julia: I don’t like to talk about my private life. I’m togehter with the Photoassistent Steve Pan and I’m very happy.

Gala:Are you already thinking of atarting a family?
Julia: Sure I would love to get married and have kids someday, but now I’m 21 and like to concentrate on my carrier first.

Gala: You now belong to the best-earning models. What do you do with all that money?
Julia: (…) Sure it is wonderful not to worry about money. On the other hand I will not be able to do this job my whole life. So I also have to think about my future. My father is businessman and my mother used to work in a bank. They mind about my money and did a long-term investment for me.

Gala: Modelingscene is well known for parties with sex, drugs and rock’n'roll. Do you also party?
Julia: I don’t go to parties a lot and the few times I did, I didn’t get to know those scenes. I can’t do anything with alcohol abd drugs. Modeling isn’t that sensational like it is always shown in public. If you have to stay that early in the morning infront of the camera it is not possible to party all night long.

Gala: You are enviably thin. How many models have problems with their nutrition (eating disorder)? Are you affected by those problems?
Julia: Most of all this is nonsense. I myself don’t know any models with eating disorder. It is absolutely clear if we do shows for 2 weeks under extreme pressure of time, we don’t have much time to eat, we’re troubled with jetlag and look sickly. But that does not mean we have an eating disorder. I’m lucky to be born with very good genes, that’s why I don’t have to mind that much about eating. Being in Muncih again I first eat Leberkäs-Semmel (that’s a food specialy of Munich, which is very rich in calories). And I love the hearty food of my mom, for example Schweinebraten and her Wiener Schnitzel (also a specialty of Munich…. or maybe even whole Germany).

Gala: Are you going to use youre popularity 2006 in other ways?
Julia: No, I already had offers to do movies, but I don’t have the time. I love my job. And if someday I will not be modeling anymore, I would go back to Ismaning (her hometown) to study again. But who knows…. If the right offer comes…..

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 This Year’s Supermodel

Canadian siren Daria Werbowy on dating older men, weathering on-set hangovers, and Helmut Newton’s last shoot (warning: rubber nipples were involved) Interview by Adam Rapoport; photographs by Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

Okay, so I have no idea how to pronounce your last name.
Wer-bo-ee.

Like David Bowie?
Yeah. It means “willow tree” in Ukrainian.

Obviously, you fly a lot for work. Who has the best business or first class? And don’t say you fly coach.
I did for a really long time! But as far as first class goes, British Airways. But you know what I don’t understand? I want to know who makes these beds, because who sleeps on an angle? You’re sliding down the whole time. Who says that’s comfortable?

I thought British Air is fully reclinable.
British is the only business class that fully reclines. For the others, at least put a footrest that comes up. Or handcuffs [laughs].

That’d be cool. That’s how Helmut Newton would’ve shot you. Actually, you shot with him just before he died, right?
Yeah. I was the last girl, in Monte Carlo. And I had the flu, so he kept a ten-foot distance from me the whole time. It was amazing.

Was it all crazy and racy?
One shot I was in a bikini with a fork and bunch of grass on the end, like rar! Another, I was on a bed of nails.

Of course.
Yeah, I do that all the time, so it was no big deal. And then the last one, I was on a cliff holding a huge rock over my head.

What were you wearing in that one?
Oh! The best part about the Helmut Newton thing is that he made me wear rubber nipples.

Excuse me?
Rubber nipples.

You mean over your actual ones but underneath your shirt?
Yeah. He was like, “Something’s missing.” And he pulls out of his pocket this collection of rubber nipples [laughs]. Not just a set—he had different colors, shapes, sizes, everything.

Awesome. When was the last time you dated a guy your age?
[long pause] I’ve never dated anybody my age. My first boyfriend was eight years older than I was.

Was that legal?
I was 16; he was 22.

Legal in some states, maybe—although I think that’s six years.
Six years, yeah. Apparently, I can’t even count. The closest I’ve dated is a year older.

Let’s talk about your job. How do you make sure you’re not hungover and supertired when you show up at a fashion shoot?
Well, you can’t, you know. What, you’re going to stop going out because you have to be at work at nine in the morning? Do you do that?

I do now. I’m an old man.
C’mon, you live once. I’m not going to stop doing anything I’d normally do.

Well, on that note, do you think Kate Moss has been getting a raw deal from the press?
You know what? That whole thing, it’s like, we’re human beings, dude. I haven’t lived her life; I haven’t been through the things she’s been through, so who knows. I can’t judge somebody on something like that. She’ll figure it out. She’s a strong person. In my opinion, the press has only helped her. And it’s funny that this sort of thing happens so much in the fashion industry, but you know what? It happens every day everywhere else in every industry, in every country. It’s life.

Did you know that you and I were orginally supposed to play basketball for this story?
Really? I would’ve kicked your ass. I scored thirty-six points in a high school game. I played center. I also play rugby for two years. Write that down.

What kind of beer did you drink in high school?
Molson. But sailing was huge for me, and every sailor drinks rum, so I drank Mount Gay rum, which I can’t drink anymore because I puked too many times. [laughs]So…Lancome!

All right, we’ll talk about your becoming the face of Lancome and its new fragrance, Hypnose. My problem with perfume is that girls always wear too much of it.
I completely agree. You should just spray it in the air and walk through. That’s it.

What about guys and cologne?
I actually perfer cologne. That’s why Hypnose is really good, because it’s not overly feminine. It’s got a spiciness to it.

It’s perfume with balls.
Exactly! You’ve got to the see the shape of the bottle.[laughs] It’s very phallic.

I suppose one of the downside of being a model is that when you’re on a plane, you sit next to some dude and he won’t stop talking to you.
It’s funny, because every time I get on a plane, I think, Maybe this time there’s going to be a really hot guy sitting beside me.

Never happen?
Never. Well, actually, once. I still keep in touch with him.

Really? Mile-high club: member or not?
[laughs] Member.

Private jet or regular?
Regular.

First class?
No, thats was when I was still flying coach. [laughs] The good old days. I think the good, real guys fly coach.

So why is it that all models seem to date 40-year-old bald rich French guys?
You know what it is? It’s because we’re kind of intimidating. I never get picked up. And if I do, it’s by a 40-year-old bald man. I don’t know, it’s such a weird dynamic. The guy I would want would probably never come up to me,so maybe I’ll never meet the perfect guy.