Miranda May Kerr was born on April 20, 1983 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is an Australian model best known as one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels since mid-2007. She is the first Australian to participate in the Victoria’s Secret campaign and also represents Australian fashion chain David Jones. Kerr began modeling in the fashion industry when she was 13, starting at Chaay’s Modelling Agency, and soon after winning a 1997 Australian nationwide model search hosted by Dolly magazine and Impulse fragrances.
Her parents are Therese and John Kerr, and she has a younger brother named Matthew. In an interview, Kerr stated she is of English, French and Scottish descent. During her childhood, Kerr “raced motorbikes and rode horses on her grandmother’s farm.” Her family moved to Brisbane to allow Kerr and her brother to experience city life, where she graduated from All Hallows’ School in 2000. Kerr originally went on to study Nutrition and Health Psychology before pursuing modeling.
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 conservative media outlets claimed her Dolly shoot (including images of a 14-year-old Kerr in bathing suits) constituted a form of child pornography. 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 modeled 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.
She is married to actor Orlando Bloom with whom she has a son, Flynn.
Once 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 major 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 television advertisements for brands like Portmans, Bonds, and Veet.
In early 2006, Kerr appeared in the finale episode of the TV show Project Runway, modeling clothes for contestant Daniel Vosovic’s final collection. She was the first woman to walk down the catwalk.
In 2006, Kerr broke into the United States market when she signed a lucrative cosmetics contract with Maybelline New York. The campaign ran in a series of internationally sold women’s beauty magazines, including Cosmopolitan, CLEO, and Elle, and was eventually featured in Victoria’s Secret catalogues. She (along with several other Victoria’s Secret and Next agency models) was also featured in a music video for the American hip-hop single Number One by artists Kanye West and Pharrell.
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 recognized 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 had 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 lucrative six-figure deal to be the new face of Australian department store David Jones, replacing model Megan Gale. In 2008, having earned an estimated $3.5 million in the past 12 months, Forbes placed Kerr tenth in the list of the world’s top-earning models.
Since 2009, Kerr has been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Australia magazine, Harper’s Bazaar Australia, CS magazine, Sunday Magazine, Tempo magazine Turkey, Cosmopolitan magazine Spain and GQ Germany magazine. Kerr has also been featured in the Pirelli Calendar 2010 and editorials for XOXO Spring/Summer 2009 collection, V Magazine, Vogue Japan, Russian Vogue, Glamour magazine Germany, Numero Magazine, US Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar Australia.
Kerr also made an appearance in the spring/summer runway show for Balenciaga, her first designer fashion show, aside from Victoria’s Secret, since 2007.
She was chosen to be in the 2010 Pirelli Calendar photographed by Terry Richardson in Bahia, Brazil. The calendar was launched that January. In 2010, Kerr walked for design company Prada for their Fall 2010 collection in Milan Fashion Week alongside fellow Angels Doutzen Kroes and Alessandra Ambrosio and subsequently got booked for the Prada Fall/Winter-campaign alongside Angela Lindvall. Kerr also received an Ad Campaign for top fashion label, Jil Sander.
In May 2010, Kerr was listed number 9 on the Forbes Top 10 Earning Models. She also ranked in FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women poll as #36 in 2010 and #56 in 2009.
In September 2010, Kerr landed two editorials and one feature in US Vogue’s September Issue. She recently became the first ever pregnant Vogue cover girl when landing the cover of Vogue Australia while 6-month pregnant.
At models.com, she is ranked at number 4 on the Top 20 sexiest models and 6 most in demand.
She is currently signed with IMG Models, Next Model Management Paris, Traffic Models and Chic Management. In March she hit the catwalk for Balenciaga’s Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear collection as part of Paris Fashion Week, this came just two months after giving birth.
Kerr’s model trademark are her dimples. Celebrity photographer Russell James said of Kerr, “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.”
Kerr’s charitable work includes Wildlife Warriors Worldwide and Children International. In June 2009, Kerr posed naked, chained to a tree, for the Australian issue of Rolling Stone magazine, in order to attract public attention for the koala.
In early February 2010, Kerr inadvertently became the subject of headlines when David Kiely, a Sydney-based banker, was caught viewing “racy” photos of the model on his computer while in the background of a colleague’s live television interview. Within days, a clip of the interview uploaded onto YouTube received over 1.3 million hits. When 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 episode prompted a 100% increase in the number of Google searches for Kerr’s name. A few days after the incident, it was announced that Kiely would be able to keep his job at Macquarie.
Kerr practices Nichiren Buddhism and believes “we have a responsibility to bring peace and harmony to our lives and the world.” As part of her Nichiren beliefs, Kerr reportedly chants every morning and night for 20 minutes, practices yoga, meditates, and reads widely on spirituality. She maintains her physique through daily yoga, light jogging, and a diet of steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and fish.
According to a Victoria’s Secret profile on Kerr (posted on the CBS YouTube page), she described her take on life as “enjoying wherever it is and trying to be in the moment as much as possible”. As reported in 2007, Kerr was writing an inspirational self-esteem, self-help book called Treasure Yourself aimed at the female teenage demographic. Kerr says, “Basically, it’s a whole lot of information that I’ve found, that has helped me. If I can help one girl by doing this then I’ve completed my purpose.”
In 2003, Kerr began dating 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. Kerr subsequently ended the relationship. A 2007 newspaper report claims that Kerr suffered financially “after taking her boyfriend’s financial advice” but chose not to take legal action.
She was formerly in a long-term relationship with Jay Lyon (formerly known as Brent Tuhtan), the lead singer of the band Tamarama, who has made appearances on season one of the MTV series The City. Kerr was featured in Tamarama’s video clip for “Everything To Me”. The two dated for approximately four years but ended on mutual terms in mid-2007.
In late 2007, Kerr began dating actor Orlando Bloom, who also is an SGI member. On February 12, 2009, Kerr and Bloom participated in the “Australia Unites” fundraiser to raise money for the victims of the Australian bushfires on February 7, 2009.
Bloom’s home was burglarized by the Bling Ring because Kerr lived with him there. The ringleader organized heists in order to steal the fashions of celebrities whose styles she admired. In Kerr’s case, it was her Victoria’s Secret lingerie that the group came for.
The couple’s engagement was announced on June 21, 2010. Kerr released a statement on July 22, 2010, announcing that she and Bloom had married in “an intimate ceremony.” On August 19, 2010, Kerr announced that she and Bloom were expecting their first child. Kerr gave birth to a son, Flynn Christopher Bloom, on January 6, 2011. The middle name ‘Christopher’ is named after Kerr’s ex-boyfriend, Christopher Middlebrook who died in a car accident in 1998, when he was 15. The two were still dating at the time.
