While her star was brightly shining earlier on in April, as the year eventuated there was no escaping it, 2009 belonged to Abbey Lee Kershaw, her heavy bangs and that gap toothed grin.
This year the young Melbourne born model established her place amongst the big girls heels, making numerous magazine covers including Australian Vogue, Korean Numero, ID Magazine, Dazed and Confused, amongst a slew of editorials from Italian Vogue to Allure.
But there was no time to stay still behind the cameras as Kershaw also walked kilometers on the catwalk, most notably opening for Fendi, D&G and fainting for McQueen.
Despite reports of Kershaw having 8 tattoos, the twenty two year old didn’t shy from flesh baring and nipple flashing, from the Australian Vogue nipple piercing controversy, to the doing it doggy style with Terry Richardson and the incredibly cheeky Pirelli calendar.
As nudity was clearly no problem, Victoria Secret also came calling, hiring Kershaw to be the third Aussie angel, along with veteran Miranda Kerr and newbie Elise Taylor.
Kershaw’s most stable gig has been her relationship with Gucci for which she starred in the Fall campaign as well as the face for Gucci’s fragrance Flora. While in the glossy images Kershaw pulls off the incredibly whimsical look with ease, I can’t help but cringe when I hear her whisper ‘Flora by Gucci’ in her noticeably Aussie accent in the TV advertisement – but if Kate Moss is any indicator, an ‘un-chic’ accent can be quickly perfected by a sneaky voiceover.
The model’s androgynous style, as often featured on street style blog Jak and Jill, has also paved her a cult fashion following, with young girl’s once again asking their parent’s if they could get their nose pierced, DIY fringe cuts and nonchalant nineties biker jackets, blazers and boots. But perhaps it’s a look only Miss Kershaw can carry off.