After going platinum for Spring 2011, Abbey Lee Kershaw became a runway force, strutting her cornsilk strands everywhere from Alexander Wang to Yves Saint Laurent. Which is why her absence from the Fall 2012 shows was particularly noticeable. So where was she? The model's hiatus had nothing to do with a busy editorial schedule or her other gig as a rock star. "I had to undergo knee surgery for a meniscus tear," the Our Mountain tambourinist, keyboardist, and sometime vocalist admitted. "I inherited bad joints from my father's side of the family—it's something I have no control over." Sounds like she missed the runway, but Kershaw says she's perfectly happy to "begin the season in print." First up: a starring role as the face of Gucci's new fragrance collection the Flora Garden. Here, the latter-day bombshell divulges her preference for natural products—and the one exception she makes for her long-standing peroxide addiction. —Celia Ellenberg