Fashion bohemian Abbey Lee Kershaw (also known as Abbey Lee) was born on June 12, 1987, in Melbourne, Australia. She says she had an idyllic childhood, growing up in a great neighborhood where she had plenty of friends who lived near her. She played on the nearby beach or outside on the streets, and Abbey says her school was fantastic because it was so culturally diverse—there were 150 kids in her school and 42 different nationalities.

Abbey was discovered by Kathy Ward from Chic just 100 meters away from her house, at the beach where she went every day to hang out. Abbey modeled throughout her last year of high school and won the Australian Girlfriend CoverGirl Model Search, which vaulted her into the big time. Abbey later moved to Sydney, where she lived and worked full-time as a model for a year after graduating, before moving to New York to further her career.

Abbey’s first shoot in New York was a Lord & Taylor ad with Lauren Hutton. “She was the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,” Abbey says of Lauren. “She is extremely vibrant and young at heart and really inspirational.”

Abbey’s campaigns have included CK Jeans, CoverGirl, Decjuba, D&G, Gucci Resort, H&M, Lord & Taylor, Shanton, and Wish. She has appeared on the covers of Australian Nylon, Vogue (Australia and Korea), and Numéro Korea, and in 2008 she walked in the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show in Miami. Abbey has also appeared in editorials for V Magazine, Numéro, Chinese Vogue, and W, and she has been photographed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, and Craig McDean.

The Italians certainly love her looks, as Abbey scored a 20-page editorial for Vogue Italia’s October 2008 issue, along with Catherine McNeil and Sarah Stephens. She also was signed to walk exclusively for Gucci for her first season in Milan. “I just felt really privileged to do an exclusive for Gucci,” Abbey says. “Out of all the shows I did, they were the best clothes I wore. The collection felt very bohemian, which is right up my alley...the whole hippie look was incredible. It reminded me of eclectic pirates. I felt like I was wearing clothes in a fantasy story.”

Abbey was chosen as one of the top faces by both WWD and Style.com. For V Magazine’s Fall 2008 issue, she was one of 14 girls chosen to grace the cover. Abbey guest-DJ’d with Anja Rubik, Anna Selezneva, Catherine McNeil, Doutzen Kroes, and Racquel Zimmermann at the issue’s launch party.

Abbey lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, which she says is “definitely a different experience to living in Australia. New York is such a versatile city, and there’s always something new to discover.”