Early life

Kerr was born in Sydney and raised in Gunnedah, New South Wales. She is the daughter of Therese and John Kerr. She has a brother, Matthew, who is two years younger. In an interview, Kerr stated that her ancestry is mostly English with smaller amounts of Scottish and French. During her childhood, Kerr "raced motorbikes and rode horses on her grandmother's farm". She describes her early life in the Australian countryside as "very grounding ... there wasn't any pretentiousness and no one really cared what you were wearing. You could just be you."

Her family moved to Brisbane to allow Kerr and her brother to experience city life. She graduated from All Hallows' School in 2000. Kerr studied nutrition and health psychology before pursuing modelling.

Career

1997-2006: Career beginnings

At age 13, Kerr entered and won the 1997 annual Dolly magazine/Impulse model competition. She was flown to Sydney a week before her 14th birthday to shoot for the magazine. Upon Kerr's win, local media expressed "concerned outrage" at her young age. The controversy raised concerns about the glorification of young girls within the fashion, beauty, and entertainment industries.

Some media outlets claimed her Dolly shoot (including images of a 14-year-old Kerr in bathing suits) constituted a form of paedophilia. Of the press, Kerr said: "In the media at the time they were trying to cling on to anything remotely to do with paedophilia. Dolly is a magazine for teenage girls, not for old men. And I was fully clothed! Doing a winter shoot! They just made something out of nothing."

Kerr signed to Chic Management's Sydney division. She received considerable commercial exposure after a series of beachwear ads predominantly for Australian surf chain Billabong, in which Kerr modelled surf brands Tigerlily, Roxy, Billabong Girls, and One Teaspoon. This increased her profile in the Australian and Asian markets, after which Kerr relocated to New York where she became co-owner of the Bowery Ballroom.

In New York, Kerr had a multitude of runway appearances and then signed with NEXT Model Management in early 2004. From there, she was booked for runway and print campaigns for labels, including Alex Perry, Baby Phat, Lisa Ho, Voodoo Dolls, Levi's, Bettina Liano, Nicola Finetti, L.A.M.B., Heatherette, Betsey Johnson, Trelise Cooper, Jets, John Richmond, Blumarine Swimwear, Neiman Marcus, Seafolly Swimwear, Anna Molinari, Rock and Republic, Roberto Cavalli, and Ober Jeans. Kerr was also booked for print in magazines such as Elle, Australian Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and was featured in Australian television advertisements for clothing and hair-removal products.

In early 2006, Kerr appeared on the TV show Project Runway, modelling clothes for contestant Daniel Vosovic's final collection. She signed a contract with cosmetics firm Maybelline New York. Along with several other Victoria's Secret and Next agency models, Kerr was also featured in a music video for the single "Number One" by artists Kanye West and Pharrell.

2007-2012: Victoria's Secret and high fashion work

Following her success with Maybelline, Kerr became the first Australian model to be offered a contract with Victoria's Secret in 2007, replacing Gisele Bündchen. Upon her acceptance, she became the first ever Australian Victoria's Secret Angel joining the stable of models already signed to the lingerie giant, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Karolína Kurková, Adriana Lima, Selita Ebanks, Izabel Goulart, and Heidi Klum. Before becoming an Angel in 2007, Kerr was already picked to become the successor of Alessandra Ambrosio as the face of PINK in 2006. Kerr's popularity continued to increase as one of the globally recognised Angels when she appeared in the Victoria's Secret 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 televised runway shows, which aired on four continents.

In 2007, Kerr signed on as the face of Californian fashion retailer Arden B. After debuting in their spring and summer ad campaigns, Kerr returned for their fall 2007 campaign, shot by fashion photographer Diego Uchitel. Following her modeling success with Victoria's Secret, Kerr made a small guest appearance in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother alongside fellow Angels Adriana Lima, Marisa Miller, Alessandra Ambrosio, Heidi Klum and Selita Ebanks.

She also became the new face of Clinique Happy and signed a six-figure deal to be the new face of Australian department store David Jones, replacing model Megan Gale. In 2008, in which she had earned an estimated $3.5 million in the previous 12 months, Forbes placed Kerr No. 10 in the list of the world's top-earning models.

In June 2009, Kerr posed naked, chained to a tree, for an issue of Rolling Stone Australia, to raise awareness for the endangered koalas.In August, Kerr released an inspirational self-esteem, self-help book, Treasure Yourself. Treasure Yourself is aimed at female teenagers.In October, Kerr launched her own brand of organic skincare products, KORA Organics, with George Moskos, and became the face for the company. Kerr also shot a spring/summer ad campaign for XOXO. Kerr appeared in Forbes 2009 list of the world's highest-paid models, ranking at No. 9 with estimated earnings of $3 million. She left NEXT Model Management and signed with IMG Models.She then ended the year walking in the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Kerr appeared in the 2010 Pirelli Calendar, photographed by Terry Richardson in Bahia, Brazil. Previously better known for her Victoria's Secret status rather than her high fashion work, Balenciaga is credited for launching her high fashion modelling career when casting directors Ashley Brokaw and Nicolas Ghesquière chose her to walk exclusively for the brand's spring 2010 runway show. It was her first designer fashion show, aside from Victoria's Secret, since 2007. A season later she walked for design company Prada for their fall 2010 collection in Milan alongside fellow Angels Doutzen Kroes and Alessandra Ambrosio. Kerr then modelled for campaigns for Prada and Jil Sander, and was shot by Steven Meisel for the cover of Italian Vogue for September. She appeared on the Forbes 2010 list of the world's highest-paid models, ranking at No. 9 where she earned $4 million.

In January 2011, Kerr became the first pregnant model for Vogue when featured in Vogue Australia, being six months pregnant at the time of the shoot. In March she hit the catwalk for Balenciaga's fall 2011 ready-to-wear collection as part of Paris Fashion Week, two months after giving birth. Kerr also posed nude for a 2011 Harper's Bazaar photo shoot. In October at Paris Fashion Week SS12, Kerr walked for Dior, Lanvin, Chanel, John Galliano, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf and Loewe. Kerr was chosen to present the $2.5 million Victoria's Secret Fantasy Treasure Bra for their fashion show in November 2011.Kerr then featured in the Spring 2012 campaign for Bally alongside Julia Stegner.

In January 2012, she was named ambassador for Qantas.In August, Kerr graced the cover of Vogue Turkey and in November, was named the new face of high street brand Mango, replacing Kate Moss for its spring/summer 2013 campaign. Kerr placed at No. 7 in Forbes 2012 list of the world's highest-paid models with earnings of $4 million.

2013-present: Continued success

In March 2013, negotiations to renew her five-year contract with David Jones "fell through," leading to a peaceful split between the two parties. The following month, it was reported that Kerr's three-year, $1-million contract with Victoria's Secret was not being renewed. Anonymous sources claimed Kerr had a "difficult reputation" and was not "a big seller for VS"; however, Kerr's camp stated she was unable to commit the necessary time to the brand. In response, Victoria's Secret chief marketing officer Ed Razek stated he had already invited Kerr to walk in that year's fashion show.Kerr graced the April issue of Vogue Australia and the July issue of Vogue Korea.

She was ranked No. 2 in Forbes 2013 list of the world's highest-paid models, behind only Gisele Bündchen, with estimated earnings of $7.2 million, which is $3.2 million more and a jump of five places in the list from the previous year. In October, Kerr was named the face of Austrian crystal house Swarovski for their fall 2013 compaign, and that December she starred in social shopping website ShopStyle's first national campaign.

In February 2014, Kerr replaced Gisele Bündchen as the face of Swedish clothing brand H&M. She then featured in high-profile campaigns for Reebok and Wonderbra. In March, Kerr opened and closed for Sonia Rykiel at Fall/Winter Paris Fashion Week. On 22 April 2014, Kerr released her first single online, featuring her and crooner Bobby Fox, in a cover of Elvis Presley's "You're The Boss".In July, Kerr became the face of the Escada fragrance, Joyful, attending the launch at the brand's flagship Munich store. Kerr also graced the cover of the May issue of Vogue Taiwan, the July issue of Vogue Australia and the November, 15th anniversary issue of Vogue Japan, shot by Mario Testino. Kerr ranked No. 3 on the 2014 Forbes list of highest earning models, earning an estimated $7 million.

Kerr graced the cover of the February 2015 issue of American Harper's Bazaar, shot by Richardson. She also covered the March issue of Australian Harper's Bazaar, shot by Kai Z Feng.In July, Kerr designed a jewelry line with Swarovski, having served as the face of the brand since 2013. Kerr spoke of the collaboration, "I wanted it to be reflective of myself and my personality and who I am. And really let me have full creative control. I knew what I wanted. I wanted it to be fine, and delicate and have meaning, and hopefully, inspiration". Kerr ranked No. 6 on the 2015 Forbes list of highest earning models, earning an estimated $6.5 million. She then graced the December cover of Vogue Thailand, the first Australian model to do so. She was also shot by Doug Inglish in a short video as part of LOVE's annual advent calendar.

Kerr began 2016 fronting Riccardo Tisci's Spring/Summer campaign for Givenchy, alongside models including Joan Smalls, Natalia Vodianova and fellow Australian, Gemma Ward. Her January/February cover for Australian Harper's Bazaar sparked controversy, depicting a nude Kerr under the coverline "What Lies Beneath". The cover was later pulled from national supermarket chain, Coles. In March, Kerr was announced as the face of Joe Fresh's fall campaign.She also featured on international covers of Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Madame Figaro and L'Officiel.

Public image

In February 2010, Kerr became the subject of global headlines when David Kiely, a banker at Macquarie Bank in Sydney, was caught viewing explicit photos of her on his computer while in the background of a colleague's live television interview with Channel 7. Within days, a clip of the interview uploaded onto YouTube received over 1.3 million hits. Eventually, Kiely was suspended and an internet campaign launched on his behalf. Kerr herself gave him her backing: "I am told there is a petition to save his job, and of course I would sign it." The incident prompted a 100% increase in the number of Google searches for Kerr's name. A few days after the incident, Macquarie Bank announced that Kiely would keep his job.

Kerr has frequently been said to be one of the sexiest women in the world. Models.com ranks her number 4 on the Top 20 sexiest models. She has been ranked in FHM's '100 Sexiest Women' poll at No. 56 in 2009, No. 36 in 2010, No. 44 in 2011, No. 51 in 2012, No. 56 in 2013 and No. 48 in 2014. Kerr was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health beating the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Sophia Loren. She was named "Sexiest Woman Alive 2012" by Esquire UK. She has also regularly ranked on AskMen's list of Top 99 Women coming in at No. 19 in 2008, No. 46 in 2009, No. 10 in 2010, No. 5 in 2011, No. 25 in 2012, No. 6 in 2013 and No. 46 in 2014.

Kerr's model trademark is her dimples. Celebrity photographer Russell James stated:

The US has fallen in love with her. We love her because she has the most incredible girl-next-door look and she's also insanely beautiful. It means women are not intimidated by her looks and guys think they might be able to talk to her. It's a fantastic combination ... people want to be around her; she's fun on a shoot … and she's not stupid, which can be a very annoying trait among some models.

Model agent Ursula Hufnagl described Kerr as "the perfect endorsement", citing her ability to "truly sell a product".

Personal life

In 2003, Kerr dated finance broker Adrian Camilleri. Following an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation, Camilleri was found guilty on five counts of fraudulent behaviour from February 2003 to February 2004. A 2007 newspaper report claims that Kerr suffered financially "after taking her boyfriend's financial advice" but chose not to take legal action.

From 2003 to mid-2007, She dated Jay Lyon (Brent Tuhtan), the lead singer of the band Tamarama. Kerr starred in Tamarama's video clip for "Everything To Me".

Kerr began dating English actor Orlando Bloom in late 2007. In 2009, a gang of thieves known as the Bling Ring broke into Bloom's home. The group stole luxury brand clothing and jewellery. In this case, the ringleader allegedly wanted Kerr's Victoria's Secret lingerie. Kerr and Bloom announced their engagement in June 2010, and they were married the following month. Kerr gave birth to their son, Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom, on 6 January 2011. The middle name Christopher comes from Kerr's deceased ex-boyfriend, Christopher Middlebrook who died in a car accident in 1998. In October 2013, Kerr and Bloom announced that they had separated several months earlier, and intend to end their marriage.

In 2015, She began dating billionaire Snapchat co-founder/CEO Evan Spiegel.

Religion

In response to claims that Kerr is a practicing Buddhist, she told The Telegraph, "I'm not Buddhist. I'm Christian. I pray every day. I meditate every day and I do yoga. I'm not religious, I'm spiritual. And praying is something my grandmother taught me as well. To pray and be grateful, have gratitude, is a big thing for me." She later told Into The Gloss:

I like to pray and I like to meditate. Doing just three minutes of prayer and a minimum of five minutes meditation twice a day sets the tone—like an arrow so that you're hitting your target. When I pray I always thank Mother Nature for all the beauty in the world; it's about having an attitude of gratitude. And then I pray to Christ to say, 'Thank you for this day and my family and my health,' and now that I'm older I've added, 'Please illuminate me. Please open my heart chakra. Open my aperture and uplift my consciousness so that I can be the best version of myself.'

She credits meditation, speaking with friends, and writing as ways of dealing with challenges such as Middlebrook's death, and "makes it a priority to pray about forgiving herself and others."

Filmography

Year	Television	Role
2007	How I Met Your Mother	Herself
2012	Project Runway All Stars	Guest Judge
2012	Project Runway Australia	Guest Judge

[ Source: Wikipedia ]