It’s rush hour in St. Bart’s, and the model Daria Werbowy has stopped traffic. The photographer Cass Bird has decided to shoot the Canadian stunner on top of a hill that overlooks the island’s airport runway. Werbowy agrees, slips into a Missoni bathing suit and runs across the highway. Although it’s off-season in St. Bart’s, a line of cars has paused to watch this long, beautiful creature skip across the road. Within five minutes, the bathing suit is off and Werbowy is naked with nothing to cover her but a street sign. “She’s like a wolverine,” Bird says.
Though Werbowy, 28, is one of the most sought-after models in the world — she stars in campaigns for Céline, Balmain and Salvatore Ferragamo, and is a face of Lancôme — she seems to be most comfortable in next to nothing. At the shoot, she greets the team in her typical tomboy getup: jean shorts covered in patches she sewed on herself, an old Nirvana T-shirt, lots of silver rings and an enviable tan. Werbowy loves the sea as much as the sun — a few years ago she took a break from modeling and sailed across the Atlantic from New York for 24 days with her father, brother and sister. A few days after our shoot, she would be embarking on a two-month sailing expedition from Guatemala to Belize, island hopping along the coast, then traveling through Central America to Costa Rica. There would be no staff, no captain, no chef, just a few friends and family members. Werbowy would do it all: sail, steer, clean and cook. “Daria can morph into so many different things,” Bird says. “She’s tough as nails.”
Indeed, Werbowy shows us her mettle on the deck of the Crystal Clear sailboat chartered for the shoot. Every morning, after surfing at Toiny beach, she drives her Jeep Wrangler at warp speed to the dock in Gustavia Harbor. While the fashion team struggles to get their sea legs on board, Werbowy is a natural, taking hold of the wheel, pulling at this, tugging at that and instructing our trusty crew on how to navigate these preternaturally blue Caribbean waters. She pours drinks (mojitos at 11 a.m. — why not?) and performs karaoke. (Ace of Base is a top choice.) When she talks about sailing, it’s obvious that it grounds her — she even has an anchor tattooed on her index finger. “Sailing is the closest I can get to nature — it’s adrenaline, fear, a constant challenge and learning experience, an adventure into the unknown,” she says. “And of course there is nothing better than wearing the same T-shirt for days and not brushing my hair for weeks.” With that, Werbowy jumps into the ocean in all her clothes.
“Shooting Daria is like shooting LeBron James,” Bird explains. “She gives you 30 minutes of pure heaven and ecstasy, and that’s it. She’s over it, bored, and we’re done.”
ESSENTIALS: ST. BART’S
The French island of St. Bart’s is the closest thing to St. Tropez in the Caribbean, where the fashion cognoscenti rub elbows with movie stars and industrialists. Get there on a puddle jumper or ferry from St. Martin.
Hotels
The luxurious Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France, on Flamands Bay, has beach access, a pool, spa, restaurant and even a weekly fashion show. The full-menu spa winds up each treatment with complimentary
sorbet. 011-59-05-90-27-61-81; isle-de-france.com; doubles from about $650. The Christian Liaigre-designed Le Sereno has small bungalows with large wood tubs overlooking
the Grand Cul-de-Sac as well as three villas with outdoor dining rooms and full staff. Grand Cul-de-Sac; 011-59-05-90-29-83-00; lesereno.com; doubles from $695. Hôtel
le Toiny is one of the only places on the island where you might feel underdressed in cutoff jeans and a T-shirt. It caters to a tony crowd that dines on the restaurant’s black truffle Parmesan spaghetti. Anse de
Toiny; 011-59-05-90-27-88-88; letoiny.com; doubles from $795. Hotel Eden Rock St. Barths sits above St. Jean beach and is popular with Americans and Europeans, who watch
the sunset over cocktails at the restaurant by the ocean. Rockers (or wannabes) can stay at the luxurious Villa Rockstar with a full recording studio. Baie de St. Jean; 011-59-05-90-29-79-99; edenrockhotel.com; doubles from $585. Hotel Manapany has simple cottages, a bar by the pool and a secluded beach for swimming, surfing or sunbathing. The Payot spa is a sybaritic fantasy. Anse des Cayes;
011-59-05-90-27-66-55; lemanapany.com; doubles from $445.Restaurants Maya’s is a St. Bart’s tradition. The menu changes daily; recent highlights include
a Thai cabbage salad and a perfect chocolate cake. Plage de Public; 011-59-05-90-27-75-73; mayas-stbarth.com; entrees $50 to $61. Le Grain de Sel at Grande Saline
beach is an airy lunch spot specializing in grilled fish. Anse de Grande Saline; 011-59-05-90-52-46-05; entrees $28 to $36. Maya’s to Go is a pit stop for takeout shrimp and avocado salad, grilled mahi mahi, a variety
of vegetarian sides and cold bottles of Domaines Ott rosé. (Melia Marden, the executive chef of the Smile in New York, apprenticed here.) Les Galeries du Commerce, St. Jean; 011-59-05-90-29-83-70; mayastogo.com; entrees about $7 to $13 per quarter pound. La Langouste, at the Hôtel Baie des Anges on Flamands beach, is the spot for fresh lobster. Flamands; 011-59-05-90-27-63-61.Beaches Serene
and peaceful, with crystal-clear water, Grande Saline is ideal for swimming. Washing Machine is choppy, great for adventurous body surfers and boogie boarders. The untouched Toiny is good for surfing, with a perfect island
sunrise. Flamands, dotted with hotels and restaurants, is nice for a scenic stroll and a swim. St. Jean has good shopping, and the airport is right next door. Shopping Sabina Zest in St. Jean sells bra and panty sets, silk
slip dresses and locally embroidered crop tops. St. Jean; 011-59-05-90-27-82-82; sabinazest.com. The family-run Bijoux de la Mer specializes in black and white pearls
on pieces of found leather. Rue de la Republique, Gustavia; 011-59-05-90-52-37-68.