Abbey Lee
Abbey Lee Kershaw[1] (born 12 June 1987), is an Australian model, actress and musician.[2][3] Following several years of success leading up to the 2011 fashion seasons, V magazine dubbed her a supermodel,[4] and Models.com has listed her as an "Industry Icon".[5] She dropped the use of her surname, Kershaw, in 2015.[6][7]
For other people with similar names, see Abby Lee (disambiguation).
Abbey Lee
Early life[edit]
Was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of Kerry, a psychologist, and Kim Kershaw, who played in the Victorian Football League for Richmond and Hawthorn.[8][9][10] She is their middle child.[11] She has said that as a child, she was "always in the hospital." At age four, she suffered from meningitis and had to have two spinal taps. She also had a tumour on her knee, and several broken bones from climbing trees.[12]
She grew up in Kensington, Victoria and attended St Michael's Catholic Primary School in North Melbourne. She has said that she "grew up with 42 nationalities", explaining that her primary school of 150 children was very multicultural. She then attended the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy.[13]
Lee has said that she "did not come from wealth" and had various jobs while a teenager, including working at a fun fair, as a grocery clerk,[14] and at a McDonald's.[15] She took jujitsu classes for seven years and was involved in other sports.[11]
In 2004, she won the Australian Girlfriend Model Search.[16] Her rebellious side got her expelled from high school at the start of her final year.[11] After high school, in 2005, she moved from Melbourne to Sydney to begin modelling. She lived 100 metres (330 ft) from the beach, and it was while at the beach that she was scouted by Chic Management's Kathy Ward,[13] who also discovered Miranda Kerr and Samantha Harris.[17] She signed with Chic Management within weeks.[18]
Career[edit]
2007–2009[edit]
In 2007, Lee signed with Next Management and by March had moved to New York City.[18] On 11 December, Models.com named her the "Next Superstar".[19]
Lee made her debut in the 2008 New York Fashion Week, managing to walk a total of 29 shows for designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Halston, and notably closing for Rodarte.[20] For her first time in Milan Fashion Week, she was booked as a Gucci exclusive.[21] Later that year, in September, she fell in her high heels at the Rodarte show in New York.[22] Then, a month later in Paris, she fainted at the Alexander McQueen show from wearing a very tight leather corset.[23] These two incidents, however, did not prevent her from booking more runway shows.[22][23] Lee was one of new faces to appear on one of the fourteen covers of V magazine's Autumn issue.[24] On 15 November 2008, in Miami, she made her international TV appearance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, modelling in the "Pink Planet" segment.[25]
Lee has starred in the fragrance ads for Gucci's new "Flora" scent since 2008.[26]
In November 2009, Fashion TV placed her first in their First Face Countdown for Spring/Summer 2010. Lee had to sit out the Autumn 2009 shows due to a knee injury: she had torn ligaments and could barely walk.[16] She was featured in the explicit shoot for the French magazine Purple Fashion published Autumn/Winter 2009.[27] The infamous spread, shot by photographer Terry Richardson, caused outrage in the blogosphere, where Richardson was accused of cajoling the girls for his own sexual satisfaction. In his defense, Lee said, "Terry doesn't force girls to do anything they don't want to. He puts you in a G-string in a pile of mud because you want to do it. You touch yourself because you want to. For me, that shoot was the truth about how things were between us both, and I felt good doing it. I'm not ashamed of it—why should I be?"[12] After skipping the Autumn 2009 season owing to a knee injury, she reappeared in Milan Fashion Week, opening D&G to having the first and last looks at Fendi and Versace, prompting New York magazine to name her "Milan's Top Model".[28] On 1 December 2009, for the second time, she participated in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, but this time she had three outfits, modelling in the "Star Trooper," "Pink Planet", and in the "Enchanted Forest" segment.[29]
Personal life[edit]
Lee stated that she was a driven child with big hopes and dreams but her complicated household meant that her parents struggled to put food on the table and there was no music or art in their home.[46] She felt that modelling made her a "disposable cog in a wheel", but that it was the ticket to her survival.[1][46] Her role in Mad Max opened her eyes to how acting combines expression, sound, movement, performance and "everything she loved".[46]
In 2015, Lee said that she was writing a semi-autobiographical film about addiction.[11]